NEWS COVID BULLETIN
Upward swing continues with new cases shooting past 40,000
[Yiannis Dimitropoulos/InTime News]
The upward swing in new coronavirus cases hit another all-time high on Friday, with the National Organization for Public Health (EODY) confirming 40,560 infections in the 24-hour period from Thursday's record of 35,580 cases, up from 28,828 the day before.
EODY also reported 76 fatalities, which took Greece's Covid-19 death toll to 20,790. Just over 95% of the Covid-related deaths concerned patients aged 70 or over and/or with underlying medical problems.
Pressure on public hospitals' intensive care units also remained high, with 627 Covid patients on ventilators. The vast majority, 86.3%, have not been vaccinated or are only partially protected against the SARS-CoV-2 virus, and nearly 80% are aged over 70 and/or have an underlying health issue.
Hospital admissions also continued to rise on Friday, reaching 439 from a seven-day average of 359.
The average age of people being infected with the virus stood at 36 years old, with the mean age of fatalities at 78.
EODY also reported conducting 38,297 rapid tests for the novel coronavirus at 143 mobile collection units on Thursday, saying that 8.2%, or 3,130 of those tests came back positive.
According to Friday's bulletin, the capital continues to be in the eye of the storm, accounting for 17,000 of new cases, while Thessaloniki, with less than a third of the population, is also faring poorly with 4,920 cases.
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