The authorities in Portugal estimate that infections with rapidly spreading Omicron mutation of coronavirus double every two days and can reach 80% of all new cases by the end of December.
As the Minister of Health Marta Temido stated earlier today, the current prevalence of Omicron in the country is approximately 20%. This percentage may mean that many more people have become ill with Omicron since the most recent official 69 confirmed infections.
“May be 50% the week of Christmas and 80% “in the last week of the year,” the minister added.
The country, which has one of the highest vaccination rates against COVID-19, announced 5.800 new infections on Wednesday, the highest daily number of infections since early February, when it had to give its toughest battle against the virus, according to Reuters.
Deaths and hospitalizations, however, remain much below from the levels of that period, is relayed by ΑΠΕ ΜΠΕ.
“We still know very little about this variant. We know it is more contagious than Delta (…). “The estimated time in which infections double is two days,” the minister added.
Temido did not announce new measures, but said that more needs to be done in order to control the transmission and that the next few days will be decisive in order to understand the impact of the new variant.
For now, at least, he said, there is a need for “more mask use, more vaccinations, more border controls.”
Portugal is already demanding all passengers arriving by air in the country to demonstrate on arrival negative test. In addition, distance work will become mandatory (for some sectors) and schools will close in the first week of January.
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