COVID-19 cases are spiking all over Central and Southeast Europe – long after governments lifted restrictions and declared the pandemic more or less over. There is no word yet on reinstating safety measures.
A Polish medical staffer works at the COVID-19 testing lab in Katowice, south-west Poland, January 29, 2022. Photo: EPA-EFE/Zbigniew Meissner POLAND OUT
Central and Southeast Europe have seen a sharp increase in COVID-19 cases in the last few weeks, while there is no word yet from authorities on whether they will reinstate some or all of the protective measures that were eased before the summer.
Experts across the region have said that the rising level of infections is likely to be down to a number of factors including waning immunity but also a return to pre-pandemic behaviours and the tourist season, which is already in full swing.
Serbia leads the way with 876 new COVID-19 cases registered in the last 24 hours. Albania comes next with 581 followed by Montenegro with 221 new cases, and Kosovo with with 149.
On June 30, Serbia registered 921 new cases, while one person died from COVID, 102 people are in hospital and 10 are on respirators.
The numbers in North Macedonia are swelling as well. Ten days ago, according to the Health Ministry, the country had 351 active cases, while on Wednesday that number had doubled to 750. The country registered 180 new cases in the last three days. In the last 24 hours, it registered another 163 infections. There were no fatalities.
Positive cases in all six WB states increased significantly in the last week compared to one week before. In Serbia, there were 507 new cases on June 21, while on June 29 there were 876. Between June 21 and 26, the daily number did not exceed 590, but on Monday it jumped to 751, and on Tuesday and Wednesday they were over 800.
Albania on Tuesday saw 550 new cases while one citizen died from complications related to the virus. On Monday, there had been only 90 infected citizens. The numbers this week are almost twice as high as the previous week. On Wednesday last week, there were only 271 cases, while this Wednesday, there were 581.
Kosovo has registered around 500 new cases in the ten days since June 19, 2022, when only 15 new cases were registered.
The situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina is slightly better, with around 300 new COVID-19 cases in the last couple of weeks.
Although a far cry from the peak numbers seen at the end of last year and at the start of this one, the renewed rise in cases has caused concern, though not enough to prompt the governments to recommend reinstating old measures.
“For now, measures which envisage compulsory wearing of protective masks [only] in health institutions and on public transport, will stay in force,” Dr Zlate Mehmedovic, from North Macedonia’s Infectious Diseases Commission, said.
North Macedonia scrapped almost all restrictions in early May and the Commission said only that it is monitoring the situation and would propose new measures if needed.
According to Montenegro’s Institute for Public Health data, there are 1,247 COVID-19 active cases now, which is 130 per cent more than two weeks ago. Most of the new infections are registered in the coastal towns of Budva, Kotor, Tivat and Bar, likely related to the summer tourist season.
“The spread of the virus is also favoured by minimal anti-epidemic measures in the world and in Montenegro, but also by greater mobility of people during the summer,” the Institute told the daily Vijesti.
Montenegro’s Public Health Institute chief, Igor Galic, on Wednesday also said that current reduced restrictions stay, and that for additional ones, it is still early to say.
“Groups that are at risk are advised to wear masks, to vaccinate and respect the other measures. For now, during this level of infection, the measure for wearing masks in health institutions, public transport and in collective centres, remains. I hope that our behaviour will not force us to introduce some rigorous measures,” Galic said.
In Bulgaria, according to official data, 532 people tested positive on Thursday, and two died due to COVID-19 related complications. In comparison to last week, there were 336 new cases. There are 60,000 active cases in total in Bulgaria at the moment.
The Chief Health Inspector in Bulgaria, Angel Kunchev, told the media on June 27: “We’re already in a new wave of infections and in the next three or four weeks we’ll see a rising number of cases,” adding that, “We’re concerned that in the autumn there will be a new variant which will be resistant against immunity.”
There has also been a spike in Turkey in COVID-19 cases coinciding with the start of tourism season and school holidays. On June 29, Turkey registered 26,635 new cases and 17 deaths between June 20-26.
However, Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said there is nothing to fear. “Be relieved. Although the number of cases has increased more than three times in the last two weeks, the decrease in the hospital burden continues. The bad days are over,” Koca told reporters on June 29.
All the so-called Visegrad countries have seen COVID-19 cases rise sharply over the past month, as well, in what is being described as a “summer wave” of COVID-19 for the region.
In Czechia, new daily cases hit 1,160 on June 29, which was up 69 per cent from the week before and up 264 per cent from a month ago. The number of people hospitalised with the illness has climbed by about a fifth in the past week. Some experts are predicting the return of respirators in some places and more widespread take-up of a fourth dose of the vaccine.
COVID-19 infections are also increasing sharply in Hungary, where 3,042 new cases were reported over the last week. That is a 55 per cent increase from the week before and the worst data in June. The number of people treated in hospitals is rising as well, from 197 the week before to 233. The Hungarian government does not plan to introduce any new measures.
New daily cases in Slovakia hit 676 on June 29, up 58 per cent from the week before. A month ago, the daily rate was just 46.
The Polish government announced that from June 23 to June 29, there were 2,422 new COVID-19 cases; the previous week, there were 1,341 and the week before that, 1,438.
Poland’s Health Minister Adam Niedzielki is expecting an increase in the number of cases. “There is no holiday from COVID,” he said. They plan is to offer a fourth dose in autumn, but it’s unclear yet if this will be to some social categories or to everyone. Officials say they will wait for EU guidelines.
Source link: balkaninsight.com
