Thessaloniki: “Alarm” from wastewater analysis

At the same levels concentration remained the viral load of coronavirus στα Thessaloniki sewage, based on the last two measurements, in research carried out by an interdisciplinary team from AUTh in collaboration with EYATH.

After him doubling of viral load, calculated from samples taken from the Thessaloniki sewage treatment plant (EELTH) on February 5 and 7, subsequent analysis of the sampling on February 8 and 9 showed a tendency to stabilize at these increased levels.

“What we maintain as a positive element is that so far there has not been an explosive increase, corresponding to the dynamics of the course that was registered in the fall. The most recent measurements from our team I would say have just confirmed that we have raised an alarm level. “We are monitoring the situation day by day, but at the moment we are not in an exponential spread of the virus in the community.” declared to APE-MPE the rector of AUTh and scientifically responsible for the research project, prof. Nikos Papaioannou.

I ask if the stabilization trend appears to have the potential to consolidate, answered: “Clearly we are on the rise. It is still manageable, but when we see a doubling of the viral load in a week, it is not a fluctuation or a reversible increase, it is a clear strong uptrend, which will continue and is favored by the mutated strains. of the virus, which are increasingly transmitted to the community, as well as due to weather conditions and antisocial behaviors ”.

At graphic presented by ΑΠΕ-ΜΠΕ seems, in relation at the end of last October and the course of the pandemic in the city in November, that the viral load in the sewer is still far from the red level, while the curve of the rise is smoother. Respectively, it seems that in the measurements from October 23 to 28 there was a clear upward trend, which later became explosive.

“I don’t think any of us want to relive the nightmare of November. We have been in a state of dispersal prevention measures for months. As long as we have them, we will be safe.” added the rector of AUTh.

In the diagrams, the sampling days recorded in red correspond to more than 500 cases – as announced on the respective days by EODY – the days recorded in orange in 100-400 cases and the days recorded in green in less than one hundred cases.

The coronavirus assessment methodology in municipal waste, developed by the AUTh team, streamlines viral genome concentration measurements based on 24 environmental factors, which can distort the measurement results.

Kikilias of Thessaloniki: until Saturday, 500,000 vaccines in the country

The Minister of Health also spoke about the vaccination course in the country, Vassilis Kikilias, immediately after the visit to the hospital “G. Gennimatas”, in Thessaloniki , who visited.

The minister referred to the ongoing vaccination campaign, noting that this entire unprecedented operation is being done with great success and that as more vaccines arrive, flows to vaccination centers will increase. As he said until saturday A total of 500,000 vaccines will have been administered.

He noted that on Monday more vaccination lines and vaccination centers will be created, which are already 52 in Thessaloniki. He stressed that in a few days the first mega vaccination center of the TIF will be operational.

He also referred to the supply of the innovative “portable ICUs” with which the hospitals are equipped, two in Gennimatas, two in Agios Dimitrios and two in the Rio University Hospital in Patras, which are a donation from “STOIXIMAN” and are the most modern available in specific hospital equipment, having the very important possibility of being transported to the areas where there is a greater need.

Finally, he called for everyone to implement the measures, thanking health workers for the battle they are waging, saying that 10,000 people have recently joined the NSS.

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