We have entered the phase where we have to live with the virus and individual responsibility is very important so that there is no going back, points out in his statements to KYPE the member of the Advisory Scientific Committee, Professor of Microbiology/Molecular Virology of Leo University Medical School. Petros Karagiannis, who says that we have not entered the stage of the endemic phase yet.
Asked by KYPE if he has recommendations for the public due to the relaxation of measures against the spread of the coronavirus, from April 22, Mr. Karagiannis said that at least where there is synchronicity, self-protection measures must be observed.
Due to the improved epidemiological picture in recent days, he said, after last Tuesday 's meeting with the Minister of Health, “some very brave adjustments were made to the measures and relaxations”.
“I say brave because there are no longer any restrictive measures to limit the transmission of the virus, so it is now up to the individual responsibility of each of us,” he added.
For this reason, he said, the recommendations of scientists, but also of himself, “is that at least where there is synchronicity we should try to observe the measures of self-protection, keeping our distance, if we are indoors to wear our mask, and of course because sampling is no longer so intensive, if we or any of our children have any symptoms, it is a good idea to have a self-test in the first stage and a confirmatory test later to find out if it is a coronavirus infection or with another virus of the respiratory system “.
Asked if he was worried about a possible deterioration after Easter, he said he did not think there would be a terrible deterioration due to the fact that the weather is expected to be very hot. Therefore, he added, for the most part, people will be outdoors, and therefore this is something that does not favor the transmission of the virus.
“Churches should “We have to be careful, following the measures he said before,” he said. compared to other countries, while there is no immunity in the general population due to non-physical exposure to the virus.
He said the Chinese authorities had applied the 'zero case' approach throughout the coronavirus pandemic.
“waves, they only had experience of the first wave, by testing everyone who arrived in the country,” he said. In this way, he added, the positive cases were isolated in time, and since they did not have a domestic transmission, they managed to avoid the outbreaks that all other countries had, but now Omicron seems to have entered the country somewhat.
“We know that Omicron is highly contagious, and under these conditions where there is no immunity in the general population, because they only encountered the first wave, which was a drop in the ocean if one takes into account the total population of China that is more than 1.5 billion “said Mr. Karagiannis, adding that at that time they had about 100,000 cases. Therefore, he added, there is no general immunity due to physical exposure to the virus “and on the other hand, they have used their own vaccines for vaccination which are not as effective as mRNAs, while those over 80 years old are only 50% vaccinated ».
Asked if the pandemic has entered the endemic phase in Cyprus, he said he would not say that yet “because we still have cases every day, every week of the year so far”. He explained that endemicity means that there are periods of zero cases such as the flu that occurs every winter or that it is a specific infection of a specific area such as malaria, which is common in jungle countries and where conditions favor it. multiplication of mosquitoes.
“So we have not yet entered this phase. “We have simply entered the phase where we have to live with the virus and this is where we say that individual responsibility is very important, so that there is no going back,” he said.
For whether there will be a decision at a later stage for a fourth tranche and for younger ages, he said there is a general debate in the European Union as to whether the fourth tranche should be offered to the general population as well. The Ministry of Health is waiting for a recommendation from the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) to take similar decisions here and this is a matter for the Vaccination Committee of the Ministry, said Mr. Karagiannis.
Source: KYPE
