Officials in Greece have issued a warning about the spread of the new strain covid called "FLiRT".
A 44 percent increase in the number of patients was recorded, as a result of which hospitals in Athens, they re-introduced the mandatory wearing of protective masks, and some mandatory testing of visitors.
The media reports that only in the period from July 8 to 14 in Greece, 669 new patients with the corona virus were admitted to hospitals, and on average, during the last four weeks, there were 464 of them receiving treatment in hospitals.
At the same time, 26 deaths were registered in one week. Tourists from Great Britain and Bulgaria, who are summering in Greece, have also been issued health warnings in that country.
According to data from the World Health Organization (WHO), the FLiRT strain has become the most dominant form of the corona virus worldwide.
However, in "Batutu" they say that in Serbia, no changes have been observed in the variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus circulating in Europe, that is, Omicron B.2.86 is still dominant, including the subvariant JN.1.
Despite this, the number of infected people is increasing in our country, but mostly with a mild clinical picture. There are rare patients who have a severe form of the disease, and these are mostly the elderly and patients with chronic diseases.
The symptoms for which people suspecting a new type of covid should consult a doctor are the same as with the previous strains: the appearance of elevated body temperature, malaise, cough, fatigue, headache, joint and muscle pain, loss of sense of taste.
Private archiveDr. Slavica Plavsic
Citizens to be tested, authorities not to conceal data
Dr. Slavica Plavšić, a specialist in pulmonary diseases, tells "Vreme" that FLiRT is one of the many variants of the omicron strain of covid. It reproduces non-stop, and after this variant there will be several new strains.
The main problem is that we do not test citizens and that we do not have relevant data about this virus, as is done in most countries in Europe.
"It is a variant that bypasses immunity, vaccine and natural, so it can cause problems, more severe or milder. He is not dangerous in the sense of any spread of panic, or viral measures, but citizens should be careful. This especially applies to older people, and those who are more prone to getting sick from covid than others," says Plavšić.
According to her, at this moment it is most important that people get tested and that they are familiar with the situation.
"It's a question that keeps coming up." People do not understand why they should be tested when nothing changes in the treatment of patients. However, it is changing, and that in terms of the possible after-effects, which can have major consequences on the organs," says the "Vremena" interviewee.
She criticizes the Batut Institute for not regularly reporting on covid and reminds that in the report of July 3 it was announced that 70 positive people for covid were registered in one week.
"The other day, they announced that the number is increasing, but that the situation is not alarming and that it is regularly monitored." Unfortunately, there is very little testing, practically they are not even done in health institutions anymore, which is very wrong. "Now, covid is treated like an ordinary flu or a respiratory infection," she points out.
And he assesses that the authorities, as during the covid epidemic, are concealing real data. "Institutions tell us: 'Trust our word of honor, there are not many infected,' which is very frivolous. Thus, we are deprived of knowledge and true information".
Photo_: Strahinja aćimoviuć / TanjugIncreased number of people infected with coronavirus
Spread of the infection in Europe
In addition to Greece, FLirt also appeared in the Netherlands. According to the portal Dutch News, experts are warning citizens about the danger of contracting this virus.
One of the 80 people participating in the infection monitoring of the Institute of Public Health in the Netherlands tested positive for the corona virus last week.
For the sake of comparison, analyzes show that the number of corona virus particles is now 14 times higher than at this time last year.
The British Independent reports that the infection has spread to the island.
"If you've recently been suffering from a stubborn cough or a sore throat that just won't go away, you may have caught one of these new covid strains called FLiRT," the British newspaper said.
Many people have acquaintances, friends or family members who have had nasty cold-like symptoms in the last few weeks, so the story of the return of covid has started to circulate.
"Frequent travel and large events such as festivals often lead to an environment where the virus can spread more easily due to the lack of restrictions such as wearing masks or social distancing," recalls Dr Mariam Malik, GP at Pall Mall Medical.
Some health experts have also suggested that FLiRT is common, and that people who have been vaccinated are also getting the disease.
"The FLiRT variant has specific changes in its protein that could facilitate spread and evade immunity from past infections or vaccines," says Dr. Malik.
"Sky News" reminds that the current US President Joe Biden has fallen ill with choreonia, although there is no confirmation that it is a new strain of the virus.
"It seems that everyone knows someone who is sick - and experts say that this kind of spread of the new strain could also have been influenced by the European football championship in Germany," reads the text of the well-known media service.
Germany is also facing variants of FLiRT, writes the portal "The Munich Eye".
According to data from the Robert Koch Institute, 38 percent of cases of infection are due to this variant of covid.
The text cites the assessment of renowned American cardiologist Eric Topol, who expressed concern about this development, assessing the spread of FLiRT as a consequence of "collective fatigue from a protracted pandemic".
He warns that this new strain will continue to spread, but that there is no indication that it will cause a high death rate, like some previous variants of the corona virus.
