A 37-day-old baby boy died from the coronavirus at an Athens hospital on Monday, becoming the youngest victim of the virus in the country.
The baby was receiving treatment in the children’s Hagia Sophia Hospital.
He was reportedly suffering from acute respiratory distress syndrome due to Covid-19 pneumonia.
The infant, who did not suffer from any underlying disease, showed severe symptoms just a few days after birth, and experienced respiratory problems.
The Greek Minister of Health, Vassilis Kikilias, expressed his distress over the health of the baby last week during his regular briefing on the health crisis.
“I have been watching with anxiety, since February 19, the course of the health of the baby, who is being treated by intubation,” he noted at the time.
“A small innocent soul is fighting for life” against the virus, he added, while “doctors are doing what they can.”
“We hope that everything goes well”, Kikilias added.
The baby boy is tragically among the 39 people with the coronavirus who passed away in the country over the past 24-hour period.
Pressure on Greek hospitals builds up
Greece recorded a total of 1,165 cases of Covid-19 on Monday, out of the 19,025 coronavirus tests that were conducted across the country during the day, bringing the positivity rate to 6.12% in Greece.
The current figure represents 23 more than the 1,142 instances of the coronavirus that were diagnosed in Greece on Sunday, just one day before.
The number of people with the coronavirus who require intubation has caused concern amongst Greek health officials, who fear the pressure on Greek’s national health system.
A total of 477 people with Covid-19 were intubated in Greece’s ICUs on Monday, which represents 11 more than those recorded on Sunday.
Coronavirus situation “extremely serious”
Earlier, government spokesperson Aristotelia Peloni said that epidemiological situation in Greece remains “extremely serious.”
“It appears that the effort is becoming more and more difficult in this phase, due to people’s fatigue and the variants that in total now make up 60-70 percent of new cases in Attica, while in Crete they are close to 90 percent.”
Referring to the vaccine rollout, she emphasized that over 1 million vaccinations have been performed, while some people have also received the second dose, and that, by the end of March, one million citizens will have been fully vaccinated.
This will amount to approximately ten percent of the population of the country.
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