Greece confirmed 2,020 new coronavirus infections in the last 24 hours, with 3 of these identified at entry points to the country, the National Public Health Organization (EODY) said on Friday.
Since the pandemic began, Greece has confirmed 387,426 infections (daily change: 0.5 pct). In the confirmed cases of the last 7 days, 28 infections are related to travel from abroad and 2,225 to other confirmed cases.
There are also 56 deaths recorded in the last 24 hours, bringing the total of pandemic victims to 11,697. Of these, 95.2 pct had an underlying condition and/or aged 70 or over.
A total of 617 patients are on ventilators in hospitals. Their median age is 67 years and 83 pct have an underlying condition and/or are aged 70 or more. Another 2,327 have been discharged from ICUs since the pandemic began.
In addition, 260 Covid-19 patients were admitted to hospital in the last 24 hours (daily change: -11.86 pct). The average admission of patients with Covid-19 to hospitals over the last 7 days was 300.
The median age of new infections is 44 years (range: 0.2 to 106 years), while the median age of the deceased is 78 (range: 0.2 to 106 years).
Slow but steady drop in hospital admissions; people over 50 urged to get vaccinated
The viral load of the country appears to be dropping, although the rate is stalled in Attica, where there are 9,500 active infections, doctor Vana Papaevangelou said at the regular coronavirus briefing on Friday.
The children’s infectious diseases specialist and Health Ministry coronavirus committee member said that there was were high viral loads in the prefectures of Etoloakarnania, Achaia and Magnissia as well as in the city of Larissa, particularly among people aged 20-40.
She also called on people to become vaccinated, especially those over 50 years old.
Doctor Gkikas Magiorkinis, also a committee member, said at the briefing that the National Health System is still under pressure but is showing signs it is improving. The number of patients in ICUs has dropped by nearly 11 percent, while new Covid-19 admissions in hospitals is also falling, he underlined.
He also said that a total of 13 million self-tests have been distributed to over 3 million people, and 9 million registered their results on the e-platform. A total of 19,641 infections have been confirmed by health specialists, up to Thursday night.
Meanwhile, hospitals dedicated to Covid-19 patients are returning to normal operations, Alternate Health Minister Vassilis Kontozamanis said at the briefing, starting with ‘Thriassio’ Hospital’s outpatient services. It will be followed by ‘Sismanoglio’ on Saturday and ‘Erikos Dinan’. ICUs dedicated to Covid-19 will also be turned over to non-coronavirus patients, he said, to allow surgeries to go ahead for chronic conditions.
