Draft of private doctors begins
Hospitals in north bearing brunt, as daily records of deaths and infections are smashed again
As daily infection rates rose to more than 8,000 cases on Tuesday, and the number of deaths surged to a six-month high (80), the relevant procedures to activate the Health Ministry’s plan to requisition the services of private doctors to support struggling hospitals in northern Greece was set in motion.
Up until Tuesday afternoon, the ministry had secured the participation of only around 40 private doctors through the medical associations, with at least half of them registered in the previous 24 hours, prompting the activation of the requisition procedures as this this number was deemed unsatisfactory based on the needs of the hospitals.
According to ministry estimates, more than 100 doctors in specific specialties such as anesthesiologists, pulmonologists, physicians, general practitioners and cardiologists are needed to support the National Health System (ESY) at this point.
The addition of specialist doctors to the ESY armory, and especially to the hospitals of northern Greece at this stage, is seen as crucial as it will help increase the number of Covid beds at hospitals.
At the same time, government sources said Tuesday that no new restrictive measures are planned before Christmas. In this context, the restrictions that are already in place and concern those who are not vaccinated will remain. This means that restrictions will remain on access to indoor entertainment and other venues for those who do not have a certificate of vaccination or illness.
Deputy Health Minister Mina Gaga, however, clarified that this is something that should be discussed with the Infectious Diseases Committee. “We monitor cases every day… Whether we will take more action is something we need to discuss with the Infectious Diseases Committee. At the moment, however, there are no more measures on the table,” she said. Gaga added that people should try to avoid coming into contact with others as much as possible.
Health authorities announced 8,129 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday. The report by the National Organization for Public Health also revealed there were 547 intubated patients.
The positive cases were identified from 662,728 tests with a positivity rate of 1.22%.
Most intubated patients (455 or 83.18%) are either unvaccinated or only partially vaccinated. Of those intubated, 92 (16.82%) are fully vaccinated.
