Pedestrians, some wearing face masks to protect themselves from coronavirus, walk in Monastiraki Square, Athens, Greece, Tuesday, November 9, 2021 [Michael Varaklas/AP]
Greece will see an increase in Covid-19 this summer, which, however, will not significantly affect harsh indicators, such as hospitalizations and ICU deaths, experts and health officials have said.
The last week has seen an increase in the number of new infections and the rate of positive tests, while there has been a small increase in hospitalizations. In contrast, the number of intubated patients is declining, while the number of daily deaths has remained stable since early June (12 to 13 deaths per day on average).
According to experts, the momentum that the Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 sub-variants have acquired in our country is the main factor that could drive the summer wave. Since the first week of June, one in three cases in which a genomic analysis of SARS-CoV-2 has been performed has been associated with these two subvariants, which appear to easily prevent any immunity that the body develops through vaccination and infection.