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Experts warn that in Europe, the sub-variants of Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 may soon become dominant, with the risk of an increase in the incidence of COVID-19 in the coming weeks. This is already happening in Portugal, for example. Will Poland follow this lead? What can we expect in summer and fall? Prof. Andrzej Fal. There is good and bad information.
- In Poland, there are not enough tests for COVID-19, therefore, compared to many European countries, there are relatively few cases of the disease.
- At the moment, the whole world, including Europe, and Poland in particular, remain in a pandemic retreat, but the situation may change in the fall – warns prof. Halyard
- Prof. Fal believes that nothing epidemic should happen during the holidays, but around September – October it is highly probable that we will have a large increase in the incidence
- More information can be found on the Onet homepage
Without a thermometer, we have no fever
In Poland, we do not know how many people are actually infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus, because testing suspects of infection and people who have had contact with the sick has been very limited. – We threw the thermometer away, therefore we do not have a fever – summed up the current epidemic situation in Poland, Prof. Andrzej Fal, head of the Department of Allergology, Lung Diseases and Internal Diseases at the Central Clinical Hospital of the Ministry of Interior and Administration in Warsaw.
The professor added that a “small percentage” of people suspected of the disease are currently being diagnosed. These are mainly people who have clear symptoms indicating infection or those who are ordered by a doctor to test for SARS-CoV-2 for various reasons. – So it is impossible to determine what the actual incidence of COVID-19 is – said the expert.
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Prof. Andrzej Fal emphasizes that at the moment it is not the elderly who suffer from disease, but young people who either completely ignore the disease or, in the case of severe symptoms, go to the hospital. Older groups still largely keep their social distance for fear of contamination and organize “home teas” rather than larger meetings. On the other hand, young people often behave as if the pandemic no longer exists.
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The tests must come back in the fall – only they warn of trouble
Prof. Fal senses, however, that this almost proverbial “thermometer” will have to come back, because if we expect significant increases in the incidence, and the number of detected infections actually starts to increase, then monitoring of cases will become very important.
– With the increasing numbers of cases, we will not be able to afford not to test more widely. It will definitely be hung up. May as soon as possible, because this is the most important predictor of impending trouble. If they do, it may be too late, he warned.
Pandemic – for now we are “in silence”, but …
According to the expert, at the moment we are in a pandemic quiet. – Looking at Europe, which is hot at the moment, first of all, we stay mainly outside closed rooms, outdoors. Consequently, we maintain a relatively greater distance. The air movement is high. Secondly, the air is dry, and we know that SARS-CoV-2 is transmitted by droplets, so air humidity is an important condition for it. However, let’s not take it as a guarantee of safety. Even now, the daily fluctuations in the disease are high in some European countries – reminded prof. Halyard.
He added that during the holidays nothing should happen epidemically, but already around September – October it is highly likely that we will have a very significant increase in the incidence. “It will most likely be” back to school “, as we saw in the previous two years of the pandemic, he concluded.
In his opinion, it is comforting that so far, apart from Omicron, no significant variant has appeared. “Omicron, although it spreads rapidly, has a relatively low proportion of moderately severe to severe cases.”
New observations – the virus now selects the upper respiratory tract more often
Previously, it was believed that the primary variant of the coronavirus, the Alpha or Delta variants, was a “highly pneumotropic” pathogen, that is, it developed mainly in lung tissue. Now it is usually located in the upper respiratory tract, i.e. in the nose, sinuses, throat and larynx.
– Lung lesions are seen less frequently, which is one of the reasons for the milder course of the disease. However, if these changes appear in patients, they look the same as in the previous variants – said Prof. Halyard.
When will the COVID-19 pandemic end?
The pandemic continues, and that means waves of disease can be expected. Poland is no exception. – By definition, a pandemic is sinusoidal. Sometimes it hits one part of the world more, then another. The COVID-19 pandemic continues. The only body in the world authorized to declare it and then abolish it is the World Health Organization – and it has not called off the pandemic. Therefore, regardless of the regulations of individual countries and temporary drops or increases in the number of cases, we have an ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, also in Poland – the expert explained.
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