News from the National Herald tells of the true nature of the COVID-19 disaster looming over Greece. Health officials on the government’s advisory panel said a fourth wave is looming as Prime Minister Mitsotakis sticks to his economic guns instead of putting the safety of citizens first.
Finally, another media outlet has summoned the courage to report on a government that opted for economic recovery instead of protecting the vulnerable. Recent COVID numbers have hovered at about 3,000 new cases per day, as Mitsotakis and Co. going full speed ahead lifting almost all restrictions.
The National Herald report tells of n astounding 3,585 cases on Oct. 22 and another 36 deaths. Here in Heraklion people generally ignore the remaining health measures, especially younger citizens. I was at the one of the universities the other day and saw one student in one hundred with a mask. Social distanceing on campus and in local coffee shops was non-existent.
October has so far seen 727 people dying of COVID complications, and the health officials on the government’s advisory panel now warn of a fourth wave coming. National Herald pointed out, these warnings are being ignored in favor of seeking more tourism revenue luring foreign investments in Greece.
According to the reports, almost 90 percent of those in ICUs are unvaccinated or partly vaccinated. The remainder are fully vaccinated, but susceptible to delta and other variants. The government is urging at risk citizens to get a booster shot.
With almost certain disaster on the horizon, the government is sticking with a failed persuasion campaign and watching as rabid anti-vaxxers are spreading the virus. It’s clear now, that the Eleftheria (Freedom) vaccination campaign is a useless effort.
In the past 24 hours, EODY reported 2098 new cases of the coronavirus, and 30 deaths from the disease. In Heraklion there were 42 new cases reported, which brings the incidence rate to just over 13 per 100,000 residents, on the lower end of averages for Greece cities and regions. Meanwhile, this Kathimerini story tells of wide disparity of vaccination rates across Greece regions.
Interesting, for islands where tourists now makeup less of the cross section, incidence rates have dropped significantly. The government has constantly claimed that tourists were not an issue where blooming case numbers were concerned. Mykonnos, which topped out at around 400 cases per 100,000 people, is now down to 19.74.
Finally, the Israeli government has released data that suggests the new Delta mutation AY4.2 appears to be 15% more infectious than other strains. The first case of AY4.2 in Israel was discovered last week in a child who entered Israel from Moldova. Officials say that even though this variant is more contagious, it does not appear to be deadlier or more resident to vaccines.
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