Update – 01/11/2021
November 1, 2021
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As of the latest update by the Greek authorities, the total number of confirmed Covid-19 diagnosed cases in Greece 742,170. 44 new deaths were reported raising the total number to 15,938. The number of patients treated in intensive care units is currently 421. 2,727 new cases were announced yesterday in Greece. 537 of the new cases were found in the Attica region and 447 new cases in the Thessaloniki region.
Twenty-three Greek tourists were placed in quarantine after testing positive for Covid-19 in Venice’s mainland suburb of Mestre on Sunday, according to Italian media.
According to the same reports, the patients will be given monoclonal antibody treatment in accordance with local guidelines.
Development Minister Adonis Georgiadis appeared to rule out the possibility of imposing a new general lockdown in the winter, stressing that “we are now dealing with the pandemic of the unvaccinated.”
“Our national right to lock people up has disappeared,” he told Skai TV on Saturday.
The increase in the number of confirmed coronavirus cases across Greece, which last week exceeded a daily average of 3,500, has again placed the country’s infectious disease experts on high alert. Northern Greece, in particular, is a source of growing concern as hospital admissions are increasing rapidly and ICU units are under intense pressure.
According to the director of the Papanikolaou Hospital’s Covid Clinic in Thessaloniki, Diamantis Chloros, last Friday, 30 unvaccinated citizens were being treated in the intensive care units, while the situation is deteriorating by the day.
“No one is doing their duty, neither the unvaccinated, nor the vaccinated, nor the state,” Chloros rued in comments to ANT1.
For his part, Dimosthenis Sariyiannis, professor of environmental engineering at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, said he favors a door-to-door campaign to inform people on the necessity of vaccination.
“We do not need to be afraid when we reach 10,000 cases a day. If we get there there is no doubt that we will be vaccinated,” he said and sounded the alarm that cases could soon rise to more than 5,000 a day.
But this sense of concern is no less palpable among experts in Athens. Athens University professor of epidemiology Athena Linou expressed agreement with a door-to-door information campaign about vaccination, emphasizing that it should also target groups that hitherto have not been adequately approached, such as the Roma community.
At the same time, Athens University Rector Thanos Dimopoulos stressed that the coronavirus has spread relentlessly in areas where there is low vaccination coverage, while insisting that protection measures must be strictly observed. “Obviously the only solution we have to manage the pandemic is vaccination. We see that in whichever regions of Greece the vaccination coverage is lower, we have a high number of hospitalizations. We must not abandon the use of masks, the observance of distances and the good washing of the hands,” he stressed.
The director of the Papanikolaou Intensive Care Unit, Nikos Kapravelos, painted a dire picture concerning occupancy rates in hospitals in northern Greece.
“We are in the middle of a difficult situation regarding the pandemic,” he told Skai TV, adding, “Either we will all be vaccinated together or we will experience tragedies.”
The Health Ministry on Friday announced deals with five private clinics in Thessaloniki, Larissa and Volos for 296 beds to treat Covid and other patients as public hospitals reach their limits.
The move comes as 3,643 new cases were reported, of which 661 are in Thessaloniki when Attica as a whole – with a population around four times larger – accounted for 599. The smaller cities of Larissa and Volos also fared poorly, with 246 and 148 new cases respectively. Occupancy at intensive care units in Macedonia-Thrace hit nearly 100% on Friday, with 910 Covid patients. The situation is similar in the region of Thessaly, where all 39 ICU Covid beds are occupied.
“The solution is to decrease demand by increasing mandatory vaccination,” the head of intensive care at Thessaloniki’s Papanikolaou Hospital told Skai TV on Friday. “There is no other way, we need vaccination,” he said, echoing concerns about the sluggish take-up of vaccines in recent months.
Responding to such calls for a more assertive stance on mandatory vaccination, Health Minister Thanos Plevris said the issue will be discussed “only if the epidemiological data change and only for categories where it is constitutionally tolerable.”
In more detail, the 2,727 new cases detected per Regional Unit:
