The European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) warned this Thursday of a recent increase in transmission of the Covid-19 virus in the European Union and the European Economic Area (EU/EEA).
“Over the past few weeks, signals about the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 [responsável pela covid-19] rose from previously very low levels in the EU/EEA,” the European agency warned in a statement.
In August, the ECDC highlights that sporadic detections of an Omicron substrain that is “very different from SARS-CoV-2 strains” have been reported, raising “concerns about an increase in reinfections if it exceeds existing variants.”
The ECDC states that the growth of epidemiological indicators is facilitated by large crowds and an increase in travel during seasonal holidays, as well as a decrease in the level of immunological protection against infection in the population.
The Center recommends that national health authorities, when launching vaccination campaigns, focus on factors that have previously hindered adherence to the Covid-19 vaccination regimen.
On Wednesday, the World Health Organization (WHO) already expressed concern about “worrisome trends” in Covid-19 as winter approaches in the northern hemisphere, calling for vaccinations and surveillance of the virus.
While there is currently no dominant variant in the world, the Omicron EG.5 sub-variant is on the rise, the WHO Director-General explained.
In Portugal, the use of a mask is once again mandatory for hospitalizations at Santa Maria and Pulido Valente hospitals following an increase in Covid-19 cases to break possible chains of transmission, according to a hospital spokesperson. .
The latest DGS report on Seasonal Health Response – Surveillance and Monitoring recorded an increase in the number of new cases reported seven days after infection with SARS-CoV-2, with 31 cases per 100,000 inhabitants in the 33rd week (07/31/2023 to 08/20/2023). 2023). 2023), which is 35% more than the previous week.
Covid-19 is a respiratory disease caused by SARS-CoV-2, a type of virus discovered in late 2019 in China and rapidly spreading around the world, taking on several variants and subvariants, some more contagious than others.
The disease was classified as a pandemic on 11 March 2020 and ceased to be an international public health emergency in May 2023.