“There will be a new summer wave of coronavirus infections that will not affect us,” Health Minister Thanos Plevris said on Thursday, adding, however that “new restrictions will not be will not be necessary.”
“We expected this increase and it makes sense given the presence of variants that are more transmissible, so restrictions are pointless,” Plevris told Skai TV a day after the National Health Care Organization EODY reported 9,288 new infections from 4,496 a week earlier.
He stated that there does not seem to be a need for the measures to return, but asked vulnerable society groups to “observe some self-protection measures.”
“We expected this increase and it is logical as we have mutations that are more contagious, so the restrictive measures are meaningless,” Plevris underlined.
Explaining why there is an increase in coronavirus cases in recent days, Thanos Plevris said that health experts have noted two characteristics:
– A serious rate of re-infections
– Omicron mutations appear to have a characteristic that someone who has been infected with Omicron is not protected from them.
Asked about the course of the pandemic in summer, Plevris said that “there will be fluctuations but there will be no pressure on the health system but from September we are prepared all the member states even with these mutations that there will definitely be a plan why there will be an increase in cases.”
He said that there are currently less than 800 covid-patients hospitalized across the country, a few thousands less than last year.
Not that according to EODY data on Wednesday, 103 Covid-patients are intubated in hospitals ICUs and that their number has a downward trend.
When asked what will be the first measure he will return, the Minister of Health avoided answering, clarifying that everything will be judged depending on the pressure in the public health care system.
“There can be many measures, maybe nothing,” he said.
Much will depend on the pressure in the health system, he added.
Minister Plevris added that many of the new cases concern reinfections and many of those are with sub-variants of the Omicron strain, which, he said, “provide no protection from getting ill, but do provide protection from getting seriously ill.”
No restrictions until the tourists leave. That’s what he means. In September it’s on
does this mean that the mandated wearing of face masks on incoming flights to Crete and public transport has now also been lifted ?
mask in public transport mandatory
I actually think restrictions have become more lax along the course of the pandemic. First strict lockdown & no leaving the house except necessary (like walking a dog), then SMS to leave the house & time restrictions (no sitting on benches to rest or police would fine you), then SMS appointments to visit a store, then vaccine/rapid tests to do anything, then masks everywhere, now only masks on transportation & health centers.
I can’t imagine another lockdown. That would mean the state paying unemployment & subsidies. They could, though, reinstate masking laws (no cost to them & they appear like they are doing something). I hope, though, there isn’t another vaccine mandate—mainly because I don’t think they protect against the variants.