Prof. Krzysztof Pyrć: the infections will grow very much

On Wednesday, the government announced that the recently lifted restrictions are back in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship. From Saturday, galleries, museums, cinemas, hotels, courts, swimming pools and other public places are to be closed again. Is this the beginning of a new wave of restrictions? – It all depends on whether we manage to keep the pandemic in check – says prof. Krzysztof Pyrć.

1. Over the past two days, the number of new coronavirus cases has remained at over 12.
2. The increase in the incidence of COVID-19 can be seen especially in the north-eastern region of Poland. There, too, a large percentage of the British variant of the coronavirus was discovered
3. – The most important question now is whether this regional structure of infections will remain or it will spread to the whole country – says prof. Krzysztof Pyrć
4. “We are at a time of the year when these viruses are doing very well,” adds the virologist
5. You can find more such stories on the TvoiLokony home page

Adrian Dąbek, Medonet: The government introduced new restrictions, so far only in one voivodeship. But it looks like this is the beginning of the restrictions, because the situation in Poland is not good.

Prof. Krzysztof Pyrć, virologist: It doesn’t look good. We have very strong growth, especially in some regions. In the north-east of Poland, the numbers jumped sharply. How it will develop in other voivodships, it will turn out in the coming days.

It got warmer, people will start to take to the streets en masse.

The temperature is good news because instead of staying at home, where the risk of transmission is greatest, we will be spending more time outside and ventilating the rooms more often. So the warming is on our side. But we are at a time of the year when these viruses are doing great. We saw this last year when the coronavirus case was just getting started. We had the first case in early March. The most important thing now is whether we manage to keep the pandemic in check or hit the wall again.

1. Over 12 infections. Where does this increase come from? Doctors comment

Scientists from the Medical University of Bialystok found that the British variant accounts for 70 percent. samples taken. It was a small rehearsal, but should that worry us?

I have not seen the results from Białystok, only press releases, so I would not like to comment. I don’t think there are any sequences in the databases yet. But data from other points, also from this region, indicate that in this part of Poland the percentage may be higher.

Our data, which we provided to the Ministry of Health, say about 10 percent. at the end of January. But these percentages vary from place to place. We are waiting for samples from the systematic collection of samples from the population. What we have been doing so far has been ad hoc activities, testing selected groups from several parts of the country. These are point actions.

Is it possible to predict the scenario for the coming weeks?

I prefer not to worry about predictions, but you can certainly expect that the values ​​will grow very much, it will not be that suddenly everything will calm down. The main question now is whether this regional pattern of infection will remain or will it spread throughout the country.

According to the latest research, we are less and less afraid of the coronavirus.

Fear is generally not good. On the other hand, it is not very wise to disregard the threat either. The first thing is personal security. While it is known that people at risk should protect themselves, some younger people ignore the risk. Most young people have mild infections, but studies show that even with mild infections, permanent traces of health can be left behind. COVID-19 is not a cold.

The second thing is epidemic safety. By allowing the virus to move freely, that is, not complying with the restrictions recommended by specialists around the world, we will make us land in this black or red zone in a moment. We will again reach the limit of the health service efficiency and as a result we will all pay for the “virus is not so scary” approach – economically, healthily and socially.

1. What variants of the coronavirus do we have in Poland? [WE EXPLAIN]

Fear is a bad word, panic is even worse. A rational perception of reality is not conducive to sowing panic, for example due to the headlines in the media about the next variants of attackers from every corner of the world. This unnecessarily puts a lot of tension on it, and we lose our sensitivity to the fact that it is a serious matter.

I promise that on our website we will pay more attention to the headlines.

I will be grateful (laughs). In fact, information about variants should land mostly in the Journal of Virology, not in news headlines. Most people, however, do not understand these specialized terms, and as a result, some panic and some say they are oversaturated. Information about variants of the virus should be directed to epidemiologists, to people who are thinking about creating drugs and vaccines. Remember that we have the same safety rules and follow them.

Read also:

1. Johnson & Johnson single-dose vaccine one step away from market launch. «Safe and effective»
2. Healers may respond differently to the coronavirus vaccine
3. What does the COVID-19 vaccination look like? How should we prepare for them? [WE EXPLAIN]

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