Should you really cancel your holiday in Greece after the ‘Covid peak’ and the return of the mask requirement – after only 205 additional cases?

Holidaymakers travelling to Greece in search of sea and sun have been warned of a new Covid variant emerging in the holiday destination.

But official Covid data suggests the Mediterranean country is currently doing better than Britain.

The warnings came after Greek health authorities recorded a sudden 44 percent increase in hospital admissions due to the virus, with some hospitals in Athens now starting to reintroduce masks.

However, this 44 percent increase represents only 205 additional hospital admissions for the country of over 10 million inhabitants.

An official Greek public health report attributes the increase to the so-called FLiRT variants, which are also responsible for the rise in cases in the UK and the US.

In response to rising numbers of infections, countries including Bulgaria have warned tourists travelling to Greece to adhere to “preventive and hygienic measures” to prevent the spread of the disease.

Warnings came after Greek health officials recorded a sudden 44 percent surge in cases of the virus as hospitals in Athens began reintroducing masks

This chart from Greek health officials shows the number of Covid hospital admissions recorded in recent weeks (blue bars) and also compared to last year (dotted line).

Between July 8 and 14, the Greek health system registered 669 new Covid cases admitted to hospital. This is a significant increase compared to the weekly average of 464 for the previous four weeks and three times as many as last year.

A total of 26 deaths from the virus were recorded in the Mediterranean, again a significant increase compared to the 17 recorded in the previous four weeks.

The surge prompted health officials to warn people who are more vulnerable to infections like Covid, such as the elderly, to take precautions and watch for symptoms so they can seek medical care as soon as possible.

Healthy adults with possible Covid symptoms were also advised to avoid contact with these groups to reduce their risk of getting sick.

This comes as some hospitals in cities like Athens have reintroduced anti-Covid measures, such as mask-wearing and both restrictions and mandatory testing for visitors.

One such hospital is Metaxa Oncology Hospital in Piraeus, located in the port area of ​​Athens. Restrictions were imposed last week due to concerns over the rising number of cases.

Matina Pagoni, president of the doctors’ association of the hospitals in Athens and Piraeus, told Greek television network MEGA: “It’s summer, we’re going on vacation, we never said the coronavirus is gone.”

She continued: ‘The truth is that this year, compared to last year, the cases have nothing to do with it. There are too many, there are many hospitalizations and also deaths. 21-22 deaths are too many.’

Greek health authorities have also reported a rise in the number of Covid detections in wastewater samples in “seven out of 10” monitored areas in the country.

Doctors in the country also expect the current Covid outbreak to last until July.

ONS data on Covid infections today shows that more than 80 per cent of Britons suffer from a runny nose when infected. Loss of taste or smell — one of the original, telltale signs of the virus — accounts for just under a fifth of all recorded symptoms

In response to the rise in cases in Greece, Bulgaria, which shares a border, has issued a warning to tourists who may come to the country.

The Foreign Ministry said: “In this context and given the large number of Bulgarian citizens visiting the country during the summer period, the Foreign Ministry recommends advocating strict adherence to preventive and hygienic measures in the context of the spread of the disease.”

Dr Mariyam Malik, an NHS and private GP at Pall Mall Medical, said The independent that Covid could now spread more easily in a post-lockdown world.

“With more travel and large events such as festivals, there are often crowded places where the virus can spread more easily. Legal restrictions such as wearing face masks or social distancing no longer exist,” the spokesperson said.

She added that the FLiRT variants, so named because of the abbreviations given to their mutations, could potentially evade immunity from previous infections from older Covid strains and vaccines because of the differences.

“New variants emerge because the virus naturally changes over time,” she said.

The Greek health report only covers known cases of the virus where people have been admitted to hospital, meaning that the community transmission rate is likely to be higher.

However, it appears that Greece is doing better than the UK when it comes to Covid admissions.

The latest weekly data from the UK’s Health Security Agency shows that 2,797 patients were admitted to hospital in the week beginning 28 June. This is the most recent data available.

While not directly comparable, this is four times the number of Covid admissions in the Greek report.

In the UK, there were also 163 deaths up to 5 July where Covid was mentioned on the death certificate. Again, this is the most recent data available.

This, although again not comparable, is six times more than the number of deaths registered in Greece.

This comes after the World Health Organization warned earlier this month that Covid has not gone away and is still killing an average of 1,700 people a week worldwide.

The global health organization also warned that vaccination rates against Covid are declining among vulnerable groups, such as the elderly and the healthcare workers who care for them.