ICU head fears Greece will experience third Covid-19 wave

The growing number of COVID-19 cases is putting a large Thessaloniki hospital under intense pressure.

Nikos Kapravelos, head of the ICUs at the George Papanikolaou General Hospital of Thessaloniki, fears Greece could be hit with a third wave in 2021.

“The situation is desperate, the ICUs are full,” Kapravelos told Skai TV.

Development and Investments Minister Adonis Georgiadis was visiting the hospital at the time.

“When Mr. Georgiadis opens up the economy, because you can’t do anything else, we won’t stop breathing, I’m afraid that the next wave (of the pandemic) will come in January or February,” he said.

“All ages are now stricken [by the virus],” Kapravelos added.

It is recalled Health authorities in Greece and TRAINOSE are finalising the formation of a “Covid Train”, which will transfer patients from Thessaloniki to hospitals in Athens.

10 Cretan nurses also arrived in Thessaloniki last week in order to help in the “battle” against COVID-19.

“You left your homes, you left your families, you traveled to other homes and to other families all over Greece who need you. Your home is all of Greece, your families in this difficult time are all Greek women, all Greeks,” Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said to the volunteer nurses.

“It is not just a polite act, it is a deeply patriotic act and I want to congratulate you in person as professionals but also as volunteers on the front line,” he added.

Latest covid-19 numbers in Greece

Greece recorded 1,498 new cases of COVID-19 in the latest 24-hour reporting period.

This raises the total number of cases to 91,619.

4,810 are considered to be related to travel from abroad and 23,403 are related to an already known case.

Five hundred and forty individuals are in ICU. Their median age is 65 years, and 150 of them are women. 81.9% have an underlying condition or are aged 70 years and above.

A total of 470 patients have been discharged from ICUs since the start of the pandemic in Greece.

The country’s pandemic death toll stands at 1,630. The median age of all was 80 years and 97% of the deceased had an underlying condition and/or age of 70 years or more.