British holidaymakers heading to Greece are issued urgent Covid warning after cases surge – how will it affect YOUR holiday?

Brits preparing to travel to Greece for their summer holidays have been warned they are at risk of catching a new Covid variant.

An increase in the new FLiRT variant has been observed by the country following a sharp rise in hospital admissions.

Warnings came after Greek health officials recorded a sudden 44 per cent rise in cases of the virus as hospitals in Athens have started reintroducing masks. 

Between July 8 and 14 Greece’s health system recorded 669 new Covid cases admitted to hospital representing a substantial rise compared to the 464 weekly average of the previous four weeks and triple the equivalent figure for last year.

In total, 26 deaths from the virus were also recorded in the Mediterranean nation, a significant rise compared to the 17 recorded over the previous four weeks.

Warnings came after Greek health officials recorded a sudden 44 per cent rise in cases of the virus as hospitals in Athens have started reintroducing masks

This chart. from Greek health officials, shows the number of Covid admissions to hospital recorded over the previous weeks (blue bars) and also compared to last year (dotted line) 

This prompted health officials to warn people more vulnerable to infections like Covid, such as the elderly, should take precautions and an eye out for symptoms so they can seek medical aid as quickly as possible.

Healthy adults with potential Covid symptoms were also advised to avoid contact with these groups to limit the risk of them becoming ill. 

It comes as some hospitals in cities like Athens have started reintroducing anti-Covid measures like mask wearing, and both restrictions and mandatory testing for visitors.

Metaxa Oncology Hospital in Piraeus, located in the port area of Athens, is one such hospital and brought in restrictions last week due to concerns of rising cases.

President of Athens and Piraeus Hospital Doctors’ Association Matina Pagoni told the Greek television network MEGA: ‘It’s summer, we’re going on vacation, we never said the coronavirus was gone.’

She continued ‘The truth is that this year, compared to last year, the cases have nothing to do with it. There are too many, there are many hospitalisations and also deaths. 21-22 deaths are too many.’

Greek health officials have also reported a rise in Covid detections in wastewater sampling in ‘seven out of 10’ areas checked in the country. 

Medics in the country have also said they expect the current outbreak of Covid to last until July. 

In response to the rise in Greek cases, Bulgaria, which shares a border issued a warning to tourists potentially heading to country. 

Its foreign ministry said: ‘In this regard and considering the large number of Bulgarian citizens visiting the country during the summer period, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs recommends strict compliance with preventive and hygienic measures in the context of the spread of the disease.’

Dr Mariyam Malik, an NHS and private GP at Pall Mall Medical, told The Independent that Covid was now more easily able to spread in a post-lockdown world.   

‘Increased travel and big events such as festivals often result in crowded settings where the virus can spread more easily, and there are no longer any legal restrictions like wearing masks or social distancing,’ she said.

She added that the FLiRT variants, named so due to the acronyms given to their mutations, can potentially dodge immunity from prior infection from older Covid strains and vaccines due to the differences. 

‘New variants come about because the virus naturally changes over time,’ she said.

The Greek health report only covers known cases of the virus where people have been admitted to hospital which means community transmission is likely to be higher. 

It comes after the World Health Organization earlier this month warned that Covid hasn’t gone away and was still killing an average of 1,700 people each week globally. 

The global health body also warned that Covid vaccine uptake was declining amongst vulnerable groups like the elderly, as well as the healthcare workers who cared for them.