Tourists flocking to Greece this summer have received a warning after a surge in Covid cases there, due to the FLiRT variant.
The latest figures show that 669 new Covid patients were admitted to hospital in the week to July 14, while 26 patients died from the disease.
Greece’s national public fitness organization, EODY, has suggested that vulnerable teams seek recommendation if they have symptoms of the virus.
The FLiRT variant is a subvariant of the highly contagious Omicron strain that first appeared in November 2021.
Common symptoms include fever, cough, fatigue, loss of taste or smell, sore throat, muscle or body aches, difficulty breathing, headache, and runny nose.
Last week, the Metaxa Oncology Hospital in Athens reintroduced the use of masks and other measures in its wards.
EINAP President Matina Pagoni told Greek TV channel MEGA: “It’s summer, we’re going on holiday, we never said the coronavirus was gone. The fact is that this year, compared to last year, business has nothing to do with it. There are too many, there are many hospitalizations and also deaths. 21-22 deaths are too many.
The United Kingdom Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has issued a warning that reads: “If you have symptoms of a respiratory infection, such as Covid-19, and you have a high temperature or don’t feel smart enough to go painting or do general exercise activities. activities, try to stay home and in contact with other people, until you do not have a maximum temperature (if any) or until you do not feel worse.
Bulgaria, a neighbour of Greece, has “strict compliance with preventive and hygienic measures in the context of the spread of the disease”.
Professor Lawrence Young, a virologist at the University of Warwick, said the spread of the virus variant serves as a “wake-up call” for anyone who thinks the virus has disappeared.
He told newspaper i: “The virus has not disappeared and it is not a seasonal infection. A mix of new, more contagious viral variants and waning peak immunity likely contribute to those higher degrees of infection.
“We expect this to cause a large wave of infection, but we want to follow closely. »
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