Centaurus expected to prevail in Greece by early October

The BA.2.75 variant of the coronavirus, nicknamed Centaurus, is expected to become dominant in Greece by the end of September to early October, according to estimates by a Greek expert.

Speaking to state broadcaster ERT, Dimosthenis Sarigiannis, professor of environmental engineering at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, noted that the Centaurus variant is more worrying than Omicron BA.4 and BA.5.

“Fifty percent of cases will be due to it,” he said, stressing that for the time being the very hot weather is inhibiting the spread of the coronavirus. Speaking about the development of the coronavirus from September, when schools will reopen and people will have returned to work, he said a mixed phenomenon is expected.

“A significant increase in dispersal reaching 30,000 median cases with simultaneous controlled increase in the hard indicators of the pandemic will occur,” he said. As for the impact this will have on fatalities, he argued that deaths could approach 50-60 per day at the end of November.

He also stressed the necessity of a fourth vaccine dose, stating that both people over the age of 60 and younger should have it, with the consent of a doctor. Centaurus was first detected in India in early May.