Director of the Tbilisi Infectious Disease Hospital, Tengiz Tsertsvadze, says that the peak of the latest increase in coronavirus cases is expected by autumn.
Tengiz Tsertsvadze calls on the public to be careful, get vaccinated and actively use masks. He stated:
“Despite the low vaccination coverage in Georgia and the increase in new cases of Covid over the last three months, the number of Covid deaths per million inhabitants (22) is much lower than in America (98), Canada (108), and Great Britain (205), practically all, apart from single exceptions in Europe and even in countries that have traditionally had low rates of Covid cases and deaths – South Korea (135), Taiwan (262), Australia (140), New Zealand (230), Hong Kong (136), Japan (24), Israel (46), etc.
“In addition, the country has a so-called percentage of deaths among confirmed cases of Covid CFR (case fatality rate) lower than 112 countries of the world (1.01%). All this is primarily due to good management of the pandemic in Georgia, including good clinical management. Georgia was the first in the region and one of the first in the world to introduce and put into practice the latest and currently the most effective medicine Paxlovid. It is in the arsenal of doctors and available to all Covid patients, along with other life-saving drugs: Remdesivir, etc. We successfully use the so-called Proactive treatment, which allowed us to minimize the number of cases of hospitalization and death among patients,” he said.
“Recently, in Georgia, as well as throughout the world, there has been a significant increase in new cases of Covid. Where earlier, on average, 100 new cases were recorded per day, now 600-700 new cases are being recorded. New cases are especially common among people who have traveled abroad. Summer is ahead, an active tourist season, and we expect to see the peak of the increase in Covid cases in the autumn.
“Therefore, if we want to maintain today’s good epidemic situation, we must be careful, continue active vaccination, including booster doses, and, although regulations no longer oblige us, to wear face masks in public transport, medical facilities and crowded places. Even if we cannot prevent an increase in the number of Covid cases, it is vitally important to keep the death rate at the current minimum. Everyone should take into account that with timely referral, it is practically guaranteed that the patient will not be at high risk, and, moreover, there will not be a lethal outcome. We must all learn to live and work safely in the conditions of Covid. I would like to advise all Covid clinics and “online” clinics to use Remdesivir and/or Paxlovid in a timely manner. By doing so, we will save the lives of thousands of Covid patients.”
Head of the National Center for Disease Control, Amiran Gamkrelidze, said Thursday that he recommends wearing a face mask indoors. He noted that the increase in cases of coronavirus is not only happening in Georgia, but globally, and in most European countries.
“This is mainly due to the circulation of new substrains of Omicron, BE-4, and BE-5, which are characterized by higher transmissibility than their predecessors but are not more severe. Yesterday, there were 631 new cases in Georgia, today we have 756,” Gamkrelidze noted.
He added that there has been an increase in new cases for 2-3 weeks. As today’s data shows, 7-8% of Covid-infected people need hospitalization.
By Ana Dumbadze
