János Szlávik, the leading infectologist of Budapest’s South Pest Central Hospital, said that with concentrations of the coronavirus in Hungary’s wastewater systems still rising “it will be another 1-2 weeks before we can breathe a sigh of relief”.
According to MTI, Szlávik said he was hopeful that the situation would soon improve, adding that although the virus’s Omicron variant was causing fewer deaths and hospitalizations, it was significantly more contagious than previous variants. However, those who contract Omicron but are vaccinated are likely to experience symptoms similar to the common cold, he added. Szlávik noted that an even more contagious “stealth” sub-variant of Omicron was identified in the Philippines last November and was likely to replace the variant’s original lineage. He said immunity from vaccines offered a higher degree of protection than natural immunity, warning that those who are unvaccinated could become seriously ill again after recovering from Covid. Szlávik urged people to get inoculated, warning that even Omicron could cause severe symptoms for the unvaccinated.
Photo credit: koronavirus.gov.hu