Omicron Spreads Globally at Unprecedented Rate as Cases Surge

On the evening of December 18, the Greek National Public Health Organization announced that 4,345 new novel Coronavirus cases had been reported in Greece in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of confirmed coronavirus cases to 1,031,239. Sixty-three new deaths were reported, bringing the total death toll to 19,799.

In an interview, President of the University of Athens Sanos Dimomoulos responded to the current situation of COVID-19 in Greece and issues related to omicron virus.

Asked if the Greek government would return to the restrictive measures it took at the beginning of the outbreak, Sanos Dimomoulos said: “Two years have passed since the outbreak began, and we now have a weapon against the Novel Coronavirus — vaccines and drugs. And he predicted that Greek authorities would not return to the restrictive measures they had taken earlier in the epidemic. Based on the progress made so far in the fight against the outbreak, he believes the end of the epidemic is within reach.

He noted that the pace of the omicron virus’s spread would lead to an explosion in global cases over the next 2-3 months. It is not yet clear how much strain the omicron mutant strain will put on the health system. The severity of the impact will be determined by three factors: 1. The incidence and mortality of omicron virus in unvaccinated populations. 2. How resistant people are to omicron virus after the second or third dose of vaccine. 3. How badly people are re-infected. International scientists are now working to assess the strain omicron puts on the world’s health systems.

But he said: “In any case, global cases will continue to increase, which will inevitably place an additional burden on health systems. Statistically, patients who have been infected with Delta virus are more resistant to Omicron.”

Due to the increase in cases in Omicron, Greece, the Greek authorities are taking measures to effectively vaccinate against the disease. For foreign visitors to Greece, a 24-hour rapid test or PCR test is required within 72 hours. The measure will take effect from December 19 to January 10, 2022.

Sanos Dimoulos reminded the public to always follow quarantine measures to protect their health and safety. “Even if we have booster shots, we should still wear masks in public areas as required, and if we have suspected symptoms, we should be tested immediately. “We should also voluntarily test for the virus before holiday gatherings even if we don’t have any symptoms.”

In the meantime, Sanos Dimoulos encourages people to get booster shots: “Early data show that when people get booster shots, they have a 25-fold increase in antibody levels against omicron virus. “Although we currently lack large-scale data on booster vaccination studies, we predict that advancing booster vaccination efforts will play an important role in combating the oncoming wave of Omicron virus.”

“There is a lot of concern that the emergence of the Omikron strain could undo all the gains that have been made,” said Sanos Dimoulos. But the conjecture turned out to be nonsense. We currently have an effective vaccine against the virus and drugs to treat COVID-19, so the end of the outbreak is within sight!”