Covid-19 hospitalizations have doubled since May, expert says

The number of people who are hospitalised and are diagnosed with coronavirus has almost doubled since the end of May, Gikas Magiorkinis, a professor of epidemiology and a member of the expert committee advising the Ministry of Health, said on Saturday.

“Intubations are currently at low levels, however it is too early to draw safe conclusions, as they usually have long hospitalizations,” he told Praktoreio FM radio. 

“Based on the data we have, there is a significant possibility that we are experiencing a phase of exponential growth, that is, we will see hospitalizations continue to increase, but we do not expect anything dramatic that will put pressure on the health system,” he continued. 

This year, there is an upward trend in the epidemiological curve compared to the same period last year when it was downward, Magiorkinis said. The rise in hospsitalizations in the summer of 2023 happened 4 to 5 weeks later compared to 2024. “So, there is a shift to the trend to appear earlier. It’s too early to say for sure, but we have a significant chance that increased circulation [of Covid-19] will start earlier this summer,” he added.