Greece: Slow but steady drop in hospital admissions

The viral load of the country appears to be dropping, although the rate is stalled in Attica, where there are 9,500 active infections, doctor Vana Papaevangelou said at the regular coronavirus briefing on Friday.

The children’s infectious diseases specialist and Health Ministry coronavirus committee member said that there was were high viral loads in the prefectures of Etoloakarnania, Achaia and Magnissia as well as in the city of Larissa, particularly among people aged 20-40.

She also called on people to become vaccinated, especially those over 50 years old.

Doctor Gkikas Magiorkinis, also a committee member, said at the briefing that the National Health System is still under pressure but is showing signs it is improving. The number of patients in ICUs has dropped by nearly 11 percent, while new Covid-19 admissions in hospitals is also falling, he underlined.

He also said that a total of 13 million self-tests have been distributed to over 3 million people, and 9 million registered their results on the e-platform. A total of 19,641 infections have been confirmed by health specialists, up to Thursday night.

Meanwhile, hospitals dedicated to Covid-19 patients are returning to normal operations, Alternate Health Minister Vassilis Kontozamanis said at the briefing, starting with ‘Thriassio’ Hospital’s outpatient services. It will be followed by ‘Sismanoglio’ on Saturday and ‘Erikos Dinan’. ICUs dedicated to Covid-19 will also be turned over to non-coronavirus patients, he said, to allow surgeries to go ahead for chronic conditions.

Source: ANA-MPA