Seventy percent of the patients currently being treated for Covid-19 in hospitals around Greece are young, below 50 years old, president of the Athens and Piraeus hospital doctors’ association (EINAP) Matina Pagoni said on Monday.
Speaking on Skai TV,Pagoni said “it is tragic” to have to intubate people aged 35 to 50 who do not have any underlying health problems.
She attributed the increase to the swift spread of the coronavirus variants which show an increased transmissibility of 40-60% among the younger population.
The number of intubated covid-patients reached a new negative record for 2021 on Sunday. Over 120 of them in Athens hospitals were, however, outside ICUs. Public hospital doctors revealed to Real FM on MOnday morning that 126 Covid-patients were connected to portable ventilators in simple wards waiting for days for ICU beds.
Ο @PGPapanikolaou και ο Ηλίας Σιώρας αποκάλυψαν στον @Realfm978 πως στην πλατφόρμα του ΕΚΑΒ υπάρχουν 126 Covid ασθενείς διασωληνωμένοι με φορητούς αναπνευστήρες σε κοινές κλίνες, αναμένοντας επί αρκετές ημέρες να αδειάσουν ΜΕΘ. Αναμένεται η τοποθέτηση του υπ. Υγείας.
20%; …— Kotrotsos Serafeim (@serkot65) March 29, 2021
Epidemiologists warn that the number of intubated Covid-patients could reach 1,000 in the next two weeks.
Health Minister Vassilis Kikilias said that pressure on the national health system remains high.
State broadcaster ERT reported that that the number of ICU beds is to be increased by making use of surgery rooms in public hospitals.
With the third wave of the pandemic sweeping in the country since mid-February, the Health Ministry ordered regular surgeries to be cut by 80%.
Hospitals workers staged small protests on Monday, demanding personnel hiring, but the government consider the pandemic as a “temporary health crisis” and does not intent to proceed neither with hiring nor with more ICUs.
This news certainly puts the lie to those who continue to spout nonsense about the virus only striking the elderly. Until the country speeds up vaccination and until idiots follow some basic guidelines (social distancing, wearing masks), we will keep perishing and having to suffer intermittent lockdowns.
THe virus strikes those with serious health problems, and the elderly tend to have more. What would be worrying is if the patients under 50 did not have serious health problems — such as diabetes, or clinical obesity. There is no evidence to suggest that this is the case, so the likely reality is that this is subtle propaganda. Which you have fallen for.
With this news how can greece be opening for tourism so soon? Economics before care.