Pressure on the health system opens the door to new measures

Of Dimitris Gatsiou

With pandemic indexes soaring in early third week of November and pressure on the healthcare system, especially in Thessaly and northern Greece, suffocating, addressing the new outbreak is high on the government’s agenda. of Covid-19 in the community.

At a critical juncture and with the countdown to the entrance to the festive season has begun, Megaro Maximou and experts have their eyes… nailed to the “fingerprints” of the coronavirus across the territory, at a time when everything shows that we are at… five the implementation of the measure of recruitment of private doctors.

The meetings in the government staff and in the Ministry of Health are continuous and the focus is mainly on the data that will be recorded in the next twenty-four hours and will highlight the effect of the implementation of the interventions in dealing with the pandemic.

Whether it will be decided, then, to extend the cycle of protection measures remains to be answered until next Wednesday, as long as the strategy remains unchanged in terms of its five key aspects. In particular, as government officials clearly point out:

– There will be no new lockdown in the country.

– In areas where the pressure from cases and intubation will increase, the health system will be constantly strengthened, through orders from the services of private doctors and the inclusion of private clinics in the “battle”. Until late on Friday night, eleven private clinics in Thessaloniki, Larissa, Volos, Karditsa, Trikala and Kozani have provided with their staff for the treatment of Covid patients 405 beds for Covid cases, 231 single beds for non Covid cases, mainly pathological and surgical cases, 18 M.E.TH. and 10 M.A.F. In total the beds that have been allocated to the National Health System by private structures amount to 664 beds.

Efforts to further increase vaccinations will be ongoing. The government is optimistic about the course of the bites, as 220,000 first vaccinations have been given in the last ten days.

-… The scenario for the unvaccinated regarding the festive period of Christmas is not going to change. This means that the restrictive measures for them, as well as the next ones that will come to the fore will remain in force on Christmas and New Year.

“We will be open to this philosophy of measures, which is aimed mainly at the unvaccinated. That is, they have the obligation to take the tests to go to work or to a series of other activities, as long as they insist on not being vaccinated.

The general direction is that we will not close again. We are currently focusing on the implementation of the measures. The philosophy will not change. “There is no way to relax what we have established as an obligation for the vaccinated, first of all for their own protection and then for society,” said (Sky) the government spokesman, Giannis Oikonomou.

“I believe, as I see the numbers, that from December we will have a sharp drop in cases. I do not think we need to take more measures for the holidays. The restrictions that exist now will not be lifted at Christmas. The measures mainly concern the unvaccinated.” noted (Mega) the Deputy Minister of Interior, Stelios Petsas.

– There will be no extension of the obligation.

The scenarios

With the possibility of a new lockdown being categorically ruled out by the government, alternative interventions are coming to the fore to stem the tide of the fourth wave. And the scenarios are many:

-The first scenario wants to be allowed to enter indoors only to those of the citizens of the age group over 60 who have proceeded to the “reminder” dose.

“Israel and France have gone one step further, linking the possibility of indoor access for the autumn-winter months with the third tranche.

It is a measure to protect the health of the most vulnerable in order not to be deprived of the joys of social life during the winter, which we could consider in our country as well “, said (Free Press) the Minister of State, Akis Skertsos.

– The second scenario wants to allow the unvaccinated to enter the supermarkets only by showing a negative test. “In the sense that the rest who are vaccinated and not himself are endangered by others who are unvaccinated, there can be such a measure.

However, we have not noticed an increased problem from the supermarkets, because the use of the mask is observed. “Also, there is no recommendation from the Commission for other measures in public transport”, Ms. Gaga noted.

– The third scenario wants the use of a mask in open spaces and the use of a double mask in public transport.