New cases of COVID-19 and respective hospital admissions were up over the week of July 31st to August 6th compared to the previous week, according to the weekly report by the National Public Health Organization (EODY).
Eleven percent of the new cases are owed to the new Eris variant, which has been defined as being of epidemiological interest by the World Health Organization (WHO).
Weekly sampling of virus loads in urban waste in Greece also showed a rise in SARS-CoV-2 in nine out of ten regions checked, up from eight regions the previous week.
Eris variant of COVID-19 is currently under control in Greece
Eris has been recorded in more than fifty countries so far, and in Greece it is prevalent mostly in Crete, with a total of forty-one new cases of the variant confirmed between May 31st to July 27th.
Nonetheless, there is no indication currently that Eris causes a more serious disease.
The President of the Association of Hospital Doctors of Athens and Piraeus, Matina Pagoni, told AMNA that symptoms are mild and the overall spread of the variant is currently under control, with no pressure on the health system.
Pagoni advised that citizens, especially those belonging to high-risk groups, stay informed for the observance of protection measures.
The Eris variant could spread further in the community in the coming autumn season, when people return to work, schools re-open, and people spend more time indoors due to the changing weather, the doctor explained.
Hospital admissions for COVID-19 have increased by 78 percent in Greece
Test positivity for COVID-19 has continued to increase in Greece, the latest weekly official report by EODY health authority points out.
Hospital admissions for COVID-19 increased from 321 in the week of July 24th to July 30th to 468 in the first week of August, and they were up a worrying seventy-eight percent overall compared to the average weekly for admissions during the last four weeks.
Meanwhile, the number of new intubations in the week of July 31st to August 6th dropped slightly compared to the previous week, from nine to eight, but was thirty-three percent higher than the average of new intubations in the last four weeks.
Eighteen people were intubated with COVID-19 in Greek hospitals at the time that EODY’s latest report was published. Another twenty-two died in the age range of sixty-nine to ninety-seven.
On the other hand, influenza-like illness rates have remained low below ten percent.
In the first week of August, no severe cases of laboratory-confirmed influenza were admitted to the ICU, and no deaths were recorded as a result of influenza.
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