Doctors are reporting increased COVID-19 cases over the past fortnight, with hospital admissions rising and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control warning of reduced population immunity across the EU.
Personal physicians began recording cases two weeks ago after nearly zero incidents in May, whilst public hospitals have admitted patients as transmission rates accelerated from mid-June onwards.
The ECDC is collecting data on increased cases and hospitalisations throughout the European Union, warning that population immunity has declined due to low winter transmission and very low vaccination coverage rates.
“COVID-19 is here and it appears that over the past fifteen days transmission has become more intense,” said Mary Avraamidou, president of the scientific association of personal and family physicians.
“In May we had almost zero cases, in mid-June we began seeing COVID-19 patients but in small numbers which have started growing in recent weeks with the trend appearing to be increasing,” she added.
Avraamidou emphasised the importance of maintaining vigilance: “It is very important that we all remember its existence. We should take our measures and when we have symptoms do testing and wear our masks when we are in spaces where there are other people. Those around us, mainly the elderly, may be put at serious risk.”
Hospital admissions increase
Charalambos Charilaou, spokesperson for the State Health Services Organisation, confirmed the changing situation.
“We have seen movement again regarding hospitalisations and although the numbers are still very small, we can safely say that from the moment we started seeing hospital admissions, it means we have community transmission of the virus,” Charilaou said.
“It is characteristic what our doctors tell us after the admissions we had mainly last week. They tell us: coronavirus reminds us that it never left, it is here and there is no room to relax mainly regarding protection of our most vulnerable and elderly.”
EU warns of reduced immunity
The ECDC stated in its current week’s epidemiological surveillance report that “population immunity has probably decreased after a winter with low SARS-CoV-2 circulation, which may lead to increases not only in SARS-CoV-2 infections, but also hospitalisations in the coming weeks, especially among groups at risk of severe disease, such as the elderly.”
The agency noted suboptimal COVID-19 vaccination coverage among elderly adults during the recent winter period in several EU/EEA countries, with only one country achieving coverage above 80% and seven countries achieving coverage above 50% in people over 80 years, for whom the burden of severe outcomes is highest.
Regarding the summer months and period until year-end, the ECDC warned that “the decline in population immunity against SARS-CoV-2 alone is sufficient to cause a COVID-19 wave in the EU/EEA, in the absence of changes in variant properties for transmissibility and/or severity.”
The agency concluded that surveillance must continue year-round with timely reporting, noting this is particularly important given “the absence of a clear seasonal transmission pattern for SARS-CoV-2.”
