Holidaymakers heading to Greece in search of sea and sun have been warned to be wary of a new Covid variant that is on the rise in the holiday hotspot.
But the Mediterranean nation is actually currently in better shape than Britain, official Covid data suggests.
The warnings came after Greek health officials recorded a sudden 44 percent rise in medical admissions for the virus as some hospitals in Athens began reintroducing the use of masks.
However, this 44 percent increase only represents 205 additional hospital admissions for the nation of more than 10 million people.
An official Greek public health report attributes the surge to new variants called FLiRT, which have also been behind a rise in cases in the United Kingdom and the United States.
In response to the rise in cases, countries such as Bulgaria have issued warnings to tourists heading to Greece to comply with “preventive and hygienic measures” to stop the spread of the disease.
The warnings came after Greek health officials recorded a sudden 44 percent rise in virus cases as hospitals in Athens began reintroducing masks.
This chart, produced by Greek health officials, shows the number of Covid hospital admissions recorded over the previous weeks (blue bars) and also compared to last year (dotted line).
Between July 8 and 14, Greece’s healthcare system recorded 669 new Covid cases admitted to hospital, a substantial increase compared to the weekly average of 464 over the previous four weeks and three times the equivalent figure last year.
In total, 26 deaths from the virus were also recorded in the Mediterranean nation, again a significant increase compared to the 17 recorded during the previous four weeks.
The surge has prompted health officials to warn that people who are most vulnerable to infections like Covid, such as the elderly, should take precautions and watch for symptoms so they can seek medical help as soon as possible.
Healthy adults with possible Covid symptoms were also advised to avoid contact with these groups to limit the risk of becoming ill.
This comes as some hospitals in cities such as Athens have begun to reintroduce anti-Covid measures such as mask-wearing, restrictions and mandatory testing for visitors.
Metaxa Cancer Hospital in Piraeus, located in the port area of Athens, is one such hospital and introduced restrictions last week due to concerns about rising cases.
The president of the Association of Doctors of the Hospital of Athens and Piraeus, Matina Pagoni, told Greek television channel MEGA: “It’s summer, we are going on vacation, we never said that the coronavirus had disappeared.”
He continued: “The truth is that this year, compared to last year, the number of cases is nothing like it. There are too many, there are many hospitalisations and also deaths. 21-22 deaths are too many.”
Greek health officials also reported a rise in Covid detections in wastewater samples in “seven out of 10” monitored areas in the country.
Doctors in the country have also said they 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 symptoms recorded.
In response to the rise in Greek cases, Bulgaria, which shares a border with the country, has issued a warning to tourists potentially heading to the country.
The Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has stated: “In this regard and taking into account the large number of Bulgarian citizens visiting the country during the summer period, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs recommends strict compliance with preventive and hygienic measures in the context of the spread of the disease.”
Dr Mariyam Malik, a GP in the NHS and private sector at Pall Mall Medical, said: The Independent that Covid could now spread more easily in a post-lockdown world.
“Increased travel and large events such as festivals often result in crowded environments where the virus can spread more easily and legal restrictions such as wearing masks or social distancing are no longer in place,” he said.
He added that the FLiRT variants, so named because of the acronyms given to their mutations, can potentially evade immunity from previous infection from older Covid strains and vaccines because of the differences.
“New variants emerge because the virus naturally changes over time,” he explained.
The Greek health report only covers known cases of the virus where people have been admitted to hospital, meaning community transmission is likely to be higher.
However, Greece appears to be doing better than the UK when it comes to Covid admissions.
The latest weekly data from the UK’s Health Security Agency recorded 2,797 patients admitted to hospital in the week to 28 June, the most recent data available.
While not directly comparable, this figure is four times the number of Covid admissions in the Greek report.
Britain also recorded 163 deaths where Covid was mentioned on a death certificate as of July 5, again the latest data available.
Although not comparable, this figure is six times higher than the number of deaths recorded in Greece.
This comes after the World Health Organization warned earlier this month that Covid had not gone away and was still killing an average of 1,700 people every week globally.
The global health body also warned that Covid vaccine uptake was declining among vulnerable groups such as the elderly, as well as health workers caring for them.