In many hospitals, infectious disease wards are again full of COVID-19 patients. The increase in the number of patients is already visible not only there, but also in the analysis of sewage. On Tuesday, the Ministry of Health recorded the highest number of coronavirus infections in over half a year. Therefore, experts and doctors appeal for caution and recommend returning to frequent hand disinfection and keeping distance.
The increase in the number of patients is already visible not only in infectious disease wards. – In our Greater Poland Center for Pulmonology and Thoracic Surgery, we have an increasing number of COVID-positive patients. The situation is very tense at the moment, says Dr. Irmina Wietlicka from the Greater Poland Center for Pulmonology and Thoracic Surgery.
On Tuesday, the Ministry of Health recorded the highest number of coronavirus infections in over half a year. On Friday and Saturday, information was provided about over a thousand infections a day, but this does not fully reflect the scale of the phenomenon, because few people are tested for COVID-19.
– It is not coming back because it was there, it is only getting worse because we have this particular season, i.e. cooler, colder, wetter, so people lock themselves indoors and the virus spreads more easily – explains Prof. Krzysztof Simon, head of the Infectious Diseases Department of the Provincial Specialist Hospital. J. Gromkowski.
The increase in the number of patients also results from the analysis of sewage. – The levels we are currently observing are not as high as those we observed, for example, during the peak of the fifth wave of the pandemic, but these are already alarming levels – says Dr. Paweł Zmora from the Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Poznań.
Scientists have found the cause of lung damage in COVID-19 patientsReuters Archive
The Omikron variant dominates
According to scientists and doctors, the dominant coronavirus variant for two years has been Omikron, which is evolving, creating new variants. – He tries to escape from our defenses, our immune system, he tries to escape from all the things that can block his multiplication – says Prof. Krzysztof Pyrć, virologist from the Małopolska Center of Biotechnology of the Jagiellonian University.
For this reason, patients without other diseases are most often asymptomatic or mildly ill, with symptoms resembling a cold. One of the effects is that it is easier, often unconscious, to infect others with the virus. For seniors and the sick, this can prove fatal.
– Unfortunately, in our patients with chronic respiratory system defects, we observe that it is as dangerous as the variants that were present last year or two years ago – says Dr. Irmina Wietlicka.
Despite the abolition of this obligation, hospitals ask visitors and outpatients to wear masks. Especially since there are no longer any Covid hospitals. To protect yourself and your loved ones, it is also worth returning to frequent hand disinfection and keeping distance – especially in clinics, hospitals and pharmacies. – Where we have people who are coughing, sneezing, snorting, we should definitely wear masks – recommends Dr. Paweł Grzesiowski, an expert of the Supreme Medical Council for Epidemic Threats.
The four available doses of the COVID-19 vaccine protect against severe disease. The preparation against the latest variant of coronavirus, which will constitute the fifth dose, has not yet reached Poland.
Main photo source: Fakty TVN