Update – 15/07/2021
July 15, 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 447.718. 7 new deaths were reported raising the total number to 12.813. The number of patients treated in intensive care units is currently 135. 2.938 new cases were announced yesterday in Greece. 1.423 of the new cases were found in the Attica region and 179 new cases in the Thessaloniki region.
With cases continuing to rise, health authorities on Wednesday reiterated that the writing is already on the wall and Greece is indeed in the midst of a fourth Covid-19 pandemic wave.
In addition to the rising infection rate, the transmissibility index of the virus has also spiked sharply, as well as the percentage of positive tests.
Experts expect the wave to spread further with several thousand cases on a daily basis in August, which, although currently affecting a large percentage of young people, may also affect those who have not been vaccinated over the age of 50.
“The epidemic will escalate quickly and abruptly,” warned Nikos Sipsas, an infectious diseases professor at Athens University, adding that the fourth wave may peak between the middle and end of August.
“Of course I cannot make predictions but we are talking about many thousands of cases,” he said, noting that in August “we could see more than 10.000 cases a day.”
Bearing in mind what appears to be a dire outlook, the scientific community and the state have not tired of essentially pleading with those who have neglected or hesitated to get their jabs to do as soon as possible, while also considering the possibility of extending the vaccination program to children over 12 years old.
This point was hammered home at an online event of the Hellenic Pulmonary Society by the president of the Panhellenic Medical Association, Athanasios Exadaktylos, who said there is an immediate need to vaccinate the 600.000 to 700.000 citizens over 50 who have not been vaccinated so far, so that the National Health System is not put under renewed pressure.
The replication rate of the virus was estimated at 1.38, a significant increase when compared with two weeks ago when it stood at 0.8. The Covid positivity rate last week was 3.15% compared to 1.89% and 1.10% in the previous two weeks.
Greece’s schools and universities will open as usual in September, providing in-person rather than remote schooling, Education Minister Niki Kerameus said on Wednesday.
“We’re going back to regular operation at all educational structures in September, with open universities, schools, vocational training schools, etcetera,” Kerameus said in comments to Alpha television.
The minister added that 73% of educators have already been fully vaccinated are scheduled to be against Covid-19 or booked an appointment. Asked whether those who refuse to get vaccinated may face some kind of penalty, Kerameus said that “all the options is being considered.”
Tourism is not to blame for a surge of Covid-19 infections in Greece, the tourism minister said on Wednesday after the government reintroduced restrictions aimed at saving the summer season. Greece, which relies on tourism for a fifth of its economy, kicked off the season in May, hoping that revenue would reach about half of the record it saw in 2019 when more than 30 million people visited the country.
“The opening of tourism was done very carefully, in the first 10 days of July just 74 out of 105.609 samples taken at the country’s entry points were positive, just 0.07%,” Haris Theoharis told a Greek hoteliers conference.
“Our country does not have a problem with the opening of its borders,” he said. “The rise in infections is not related to tourism.”
In more detail, the 2.938 new cases detected per Regional Unit:
