Filenews 1 January 2022 - by Marilena Panagi
"Things with 'Omikron' are not as simple as some people want to present them," the head of the A.E.E. Konstantinos Tsioutis told "F", explaining that in itself the huge number of cases, regardless of the severity of the symptoms caused by the mutation, affects both society and the economy of the country.
Choosing, as he said to speak "as a doctor and as a citizen", Mr. Tsioutis called on citizens, at the exits and at the family gatherings that they will have these days to be particularly careful. "I will talk to you as a doctor and as a citizen about what I have recorded through what I have been watching over the last few days because in the next few days we will find ourselves with a lot of people and it depends on us how safe we will be and how safe we will keep the rest around us."
"We have to take it for granted that we have the much more contagious strain of 'Omikron' between us. It is not the first time that we are in the same position. Last year at this time we had the first recordings of Alpha (British) and early summer Delta (Indian). So we need to be aware that the outbreak can become uncontrollable if it is not already now. "Omikron" is transmitted very easily, and probably very quickly. We observe people coming into close contact and after 3 days they come out the same positives. So here are two things that matter: to be careful and to choose who we are with and to test often." The surge of cases in recent days, "shows us in practice," he said, adding: "With 'Delta', 3-4% of the cases ended up in the hospital, and about 3-4 out of 1,000 were entering the Intensive Care Unit. But with Delta there were few cases where we reached 900-1,000 cases a day. Now we have more than double the number of cases and we will probably go even further. Even if the percentage of those who will be hospitalized is smaller, the actual number of people may be higher."
Even if "we will say that our hospitals are on standby and have the endurance, to think about all the other consequences: the 2,000 cases a day, have a serious impact on our daily lives. Just think of how many of our acquaintances cancelled a meeting because they were close contacts or tested positive, or how many colleagues are missing from the job, and the way we work needs to be reviewed without the absences affecting the job." In addition, "even with the enhanced preparedness of state hospitals, there are people, with other health problems, who need to go to the TAEP, or see a doctor, or have surgery, and are not adequately or timely served. To think about the long-term consequences of what we are living now."
His message, he concluded, "is not of a medical or scientific nature": "Two years have passed and the constant we have left is one: I watch out, to watch over you, and you watch out to look after me. Where we have arrived today, we want on the one hand, not to limit ourselves, not to be hurt socially and economically, but to control the situation with as few losses as possible".
Symptoms mean coronavirus
"We have a lot of different tests right now. But today, anyone who has symptoms, even mild ones, should consider it COVID and that's why they should be restricted and tested. "Omikron" causes mild symptoms. We see this in most vaccinated people. They make mild symptoms, that is, what we call a runny nose. So someone with a runny nose again does not rest and takes a test. And I don't say it to scare, I remind you that I'm talking to you as a doctor. Is there any reason to worry? Me, if I get infected, probably not. Because I am relatively young, because I have been vaccinated, because I do not have serious health problems. But two things: we are talking about probabilities, so there is a possibility that I will be among those who will become seriously ill. The other is that, I am not alone. I have contacts, at work, with friends, with family, with older people or who have serious health problems, so if I am not checked in time, if I do not pay attention to my contacts, I may infect others."
