Apparently the cases may have decreased but the hospitalizations remain stable, said the epidemiologist Dr. Michalis Voniatis to KYPE, adding that if the picture we have now does not decline, then September will be difficult.
Dr. Voniatis said that as the epidemiological picture is evolving at the moment, it is difficult to explain. "Things are a bit difficult because even though it appears on the surface that the cases are decreasing, the problem remains that we have a sufficient number of hospitalizations and in fact we have the highest number of hospitalizations in the Intensive Care Units and a large number of intubated patients."
All this, he noted, should concern us because two things can happen. "One is that it is very likely that we will not be able to detect all cases due to the fact that the free rapid tests have stopped and the second is that it is possible that the Delta mutation will cause more severe disease even in children and young people, who to result in more hospitalizations for people with severe illness ".
So all this, he continued, we have to watch. "What worries me a bit is that the hospitalizations have remained stable for several days, although the cases are supposed to be reduced. Cases appear to be decreasing but hospitalizations remain stable. "It is still at high levels," he added.
Asked if the cases will continue to decrease, Dr. Voniatis said that with the increase of fully vaccinated cases, the cases should be reduced.
"It is known that most people who are hospitalized are unvaccinated and it is possible that those who are vaccinated are on a single dose of the vaccine and the protection against the Delta mutation is very low. "So what we need to aim for is to increase the number of fully vaccinated people, something that is happening but I do not believe it will be achieved before the end of September," he said.
Asked what the situation will be in September, he said that "if this picture we have now does not subside in August, then we will have a very difficult September when the schools will open. "We do not see a sharp decline in hospitalizations, as has happened in previous waves of the pandemic."
He explained that in the first waves when the cases fell and the hospitalizations also fell. "This means that we have to continue the measures of personal protection indoors, in places where we come in contact with unknown people and the reason is that if we do not follow the measures, the possibility of infection even vaccinated, who can transmit the virus and not to get seriously ill, it is possible ", he added.
Answering a question, Dr. Voniatis expressed the belief that there are many more cases than those that are made public. "I think there should be more cases. "There have already been some problems with the tests performed in pharmacies and they are not declared enough to have a clearer epidemiological picture," he noted.
He also said that the tests are repeated in the same people now, noting that "you can not have a representative sample of the situation"