More than 1,100 confirmed COVID-19 infections were recorded in Poland last Saturday. A week earlier the number was more than 700, and on August 2 it was more than 460. Doctors have no doubt that we are dealing with a summer wave of COVID-19 - This is not surprising. Already in June we predicted that there would be a summer wave and we talked about preparing for this moment, because a new strain is starting to circulate, our immunity is declining after the last wave and we don't have vaccinations," Dr. Pawel Grzesiowski, Chief Sanitary Inspector, told TVN24 in an interview.
Summer wave of COVID in Poland. The number of infections is increasing
Published Aug. 19, 2024 09:53
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As Dr. Pawel Grzesiowski pointed out, in assessing the scale of the problem, we can rely on three different sets of data.
- The first are those that go into the health care system. These are either reported by doctors, or test results are reported by laboratories, and based on this we can say that there are more sick people," he said in an interview.
However, the number of confirmed cases is severely underestimated relative to what is actually happening, since only a fraction of COVID-19 tests are already being ordered and performed from doctors' offices. The vast majority of people who have symptoms of infection go to a pharmacy for the test, perform it at home and do not report the result anywhere. The actual number of infections can therefore be ten or even fifteen times higher than what is reported.
- An independent data set is the number of tests purchased in pharmacies. This is a very good indicator. On top of that, we also add metadata on visits for acute infections, and these too have increased in recent weeks. There's another database, very selective for now, that says we're also seeing more of the virus in sewage. This is irrefutable evidence that someone is excreting it, and it is us humans," the Chief Sanitary Inspector added.
The Omicron variant, which causes the disease with a much milder course than earlier mutations, is still responsible for infections. However, the virus is still dangerous for people in at-risk groups - including the elderly or chronically ill. A problem of increasing concern, however, is long covid, or pocovid inflammatory syndrome. More than 500 million people worldwide already suffer from the remote effects of covid.
There is also the matter of vaccination. Until the end of this month, you can still get vaccinated with the existing vaccine. However, we are waiting for the updated formulation.
- The new vaccines have been submitted to the European Medicines Agency and we are waiting for registration. We hope to be able to buy it in September, and administer it - probably in October. According to the announcement of Health Minister Izabela Leszczyna, the purchase will be similar to the previous one. The vaccine will be available on the same basis for at-risk groups and all willing. So it will be free of charge and offered in family doctors' offices and pharmacies, Dr. Pawel Grzesiowski announced.
