“Roadmap” for the transition of countries and systems Health in the post-pandemic era, he is expected to make it public next week. World Health Organization. As WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a press briefing, “The fourth Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan (SPRP) will be adopted next week to COVID-19 – the first was released in February 2020 – and aims to guide countries over the next two years as they move from the acute and emergency phase of COVID-19 to long-term sustainable disease management.

With the disease now taking on a milder picture than ever, the WHO chief expressed the optimism of WHO scientists that “at some point this year, we may be able to declare the end of COVID-19 an international public health crisis. level.” level”, that is, the end of the pandemic. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus also touched on the evolution of COVID-19, noting that since the beginning of the year, the death rate of patients with the disease has decreased by 95%. But I noticed that over the past month, 14,000 people worldwide have died from the disease, while in some countries there is an increase in mortality.

“The virus is here to stay”

“The virus continues to change and is capable of causing new epidemic waves,” he said, referring to variants of SARS-CoV-2, while recalling that every tenth infection leads to post-COVID syndrome, which means that hundreds of millions of patients will need long term medical care. “The virus is not going anywhere and all countries will have to learn how to deal with it along with other infectious diseases.”

Epidemic rates of COVID-19 remained stable in EE last week. An increase in the number of diagnoses was recorded in only four countries, including Greece.

The EODY Respiratory Surveillance Report released yesterday shows an increase in COVID-19 hospitalizations in our country for the week of April 17-23 compared to Holy Week and Easter Sunday (813 compared to 708) and an increase in new patient intubations with COVID-19 infection (16 versus 10 during Holy Week and Easter). Sixty-four (64) patients were intubated last Sunday). Last week, there were 43 deaths in patients with the disease, with a mean age of 85 years (range 60 to 97 years). During Holy Week and Easter Sunday, 38 deaths were recorded.

Request to suspend rapid tests in pharmacies

In the meantime, the coordinating body of the primary health care authorities, which includes physicians from clinical laboratories, diagnostic centers and private primary health care facilities, is asking for a suspension of the ability to conduct a rapid test for COVID-19 in pharmacies, citing the downturn of the pandemic.

As he states in a letter to the Minister of Health, “Assessing the current health situation in our country and due to the fact that the state of emergency due to COVID-19 has passed, we ask that measures be taken on rapid tests by pharmacies from 01/05/2023 …etc, where the date of expiry of the most recent relevant ministerial decision is indicated.”

He also notes that the performance of such medical manipulations is the responsibility of doctors and should remain in this form after the end of the emergency measures taken in connection with the spread of the coronavirus. It is recalled that during the pandemic, pharmacies carried a large “burden” of testing for COVID-19. A study by the Health Policy Institute published yesterday on public views on private pharmacy use found that during the pandemic, seven out of ten citizens (70.2%) visited a pharmacy to take a rapid test.