The alarm is in the red because of the increased cases, which if we are not careful will be launched in a thousand, says to KYPE the Professor of Microbiology / Molecular Virology of the Medical School of the University of Nicosia Dr. Petros Karagiannis, who rings the bell and the bell rings. especially young people, to be vaccinated so that we do not get worse.
Despite the warnings and warnings, he said, it seems that we are still behaving as if the virus has left the community - yesterday the results of 787 cases show that the virus is with us and even with an increasing rate of transmission due to behaviors that we do not intend to stop at the given moment to limit the spread.
"We are only about 160 cases out of the number we had before we took the last strict restrictive measures. "Of course things have changed since then, vaccination coverage has increased."
At the moment, he continued, most cases are under the age of 40, much less under the age of 25, where at least 55% of cases are detected.
"Therefore, these are younger people, who are sick and some of them are seriously ill and are admitted to hospitals, but we will not see the severity of the disease, as we had in older people. "This does not mean that sooner or later the virus will not go up because some who are positive may come in contact with older people who have not yet been vaccinated."
Hospitalizations will increase
Dr. Karagiannis said that there is a great risk that the number of hospitalizations will increase. "We have already started and we see an increase in hospitalizations, which compared to previous outbreaks are still at lower levels because they are younger people. "I believe that the number of hospitalizations will increase more", he pointed out.
From the data of the epidemic in Great Britain, the Professor said, it has been observed that although this virus is more contagious in younger people, but the hospitalizations are not in the same degree as in previous waves of the pandemic and the deaths are currently limited . That is why, he continued, and the British government made the very courageous decision to remove the restrictive measures, which I hope, he noted, does not cost them dearly.
Will there be restrictive measures?
Dr. Karagiannis pointed out that previously we had restrictive measures as a weapon to reduce cases. At the moment, he noted, we will have to closely monitor our epidemiological picture and developments in the next few days. "Everything will depend on the number of hospitalizations. At the moment it seems that the situation is still under control. We have little room to breathe from there and beyond we will have to rethink the measures. I do not know what kind of restrictive measures could be put in the middle of the summer season and the tourist traffic. "If restrictive measures are taken then it is like closing our economy for the rest of the season," he added.
Is it better, he said, to voluntarily limit ourselves to a week or two by fully implementing self-protection measures and protocols, or to be forced to impose restrictive measures at the end of the day?
"I would not consider it impossible to see a thousand cases with the way things turned out. "Things are bad," he said.
Regarding the imposition of restrictive measures, Dr. Karagiannis stated that it is up to the Government to decide. We, she pointed out, are at her disposal as scientists to express our opinion.
"If we do not change our mentality and if we do not consolidate the fact that even though it is summer we have to wear masks, keep our distance, and avoid places where people gather, then things are bad," he said.
Young people need to be vaccinated
Dr. Karagiannis said that young people should understand that they need to be vaccinated. "At the moment, the rest of the vaccinated and responsible residents of Cyprus are being held hostage by a portion that does not intend to understand the importance of vaccinations. And another portion who hears that some vaccinated people can get sick and says if vaccinated people are not protected why should I get the vaccine? "They are unaware that vaccines are effective at 85%."
Asked if the increase in cases was due to the Delta mutation, he said that we do not know exactly because we did not have any further recent announcements from the laboratory in Germany that makes these identifications. "But I believe," he noted, "with the speed with which we see cases doubling every now and then, that this is probably the mutated Delta strain."
Will there be a reduction in cases?
Dr. Karagiannis said that he could not predict whether there would be a reduction and that it depends on our behavior. We say and say this thing again, he noted, but we do not say to understand it and to apply it.
Imagine, he continued, if it were winter months in what numbers the cases would be. "If it was autumn and we were all indoors, then you understand that the transmission of the virus would be even wider. Fortunately due to the vaccination coverage and the fact that our months are summer, we are mostly outdoors does not help transmit the virus. "But if one sees the transmission chains, one understands that they come from places where many people congregate and do not follow the self-protection measures or the health protocols", he added.
Finally, he expressed the position that by September we will increase our vaccination coverage to around 80% required to be shielded. "If we do not do it, we will have a problem. "Things are clear now," he added.