There is an increase in the registration of confirmed cases of coronavirus during this period, which will increase more during the days of the holidays, where there is overcrowding, the Director of Medical Services and Public Health Services, Elisavet Constantinou, told KYPE.
As Ms. Constantinou said, the results from December 1 to 7, 2023, show an increase in the positivity rate without, however, increasing the number of hospital admissions compared to the previous week.
"It's about 32 imports while just the week before it was 29, the difference is small," he noted.
This week's confirmed cases were 1.538 with the positivity rate hovering around 1,97%.
When asked about it, she said that "apparently the small increase is due to the fact that there are more social contacts during this period and that people started to gather in closed spaces, so in a closed space it is easier for respiratory virus infections to spread".
Asked to comment on whether we will have more cases during the holiday season, Ms. Constantinou said that "during the holidays we always have an increase, it is to be expected that there will be some increase due to the many social contacts and due to closed spaces".
We urge the public, he continued, to get vaccinated because the vaccination rate is low – only 18.000 have been vaccinated from the general population – and to observe personal protection measures.
"We especially urge those with upper respiratory infection symptoms to confine themselves to their homes and use a mask when they need to leave the house," he added.
He pointed out that the burden is more on the elderly, people over 75 years old, so he called on those who have such people around them to take care to vaccinate them and in fact he pointed out in time, because the vaccine needs some time to give antibodies and protection.
Mrs. Constantinou finally stated that we do not have new strains of the virus in the community but due to the holiday season we urge the public to observe personal protection measures and to vaccinate the vulnerable and the elderly.
In this period, he noted, we have upper respiratory infections which, with sneezes and droplets, help spread viruses.
Source: KYPE