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Virologist: Coronavirus epidemic is likely to speed up in October

Based on the symptoms, it is difficult to tell whether infections are caused by the flu, allergy or the coronavirus.

Virologist Miklós Rusvai said the coronavirus epidemic is likely to speed up in October and the flu could also reappear.

Rusvai added that when the weather turns cold and wet, symptoms of the common cold, infections in kindergartens and schools become increasingly frequent and based on the symptoms, it is difficult to tell whether infections are caused by the flu, allergy or the coronavirus. The situation is always more serious if the flu and the coronavirus appear simultaneously, he said.

The virologist added that during the past season, there was no flu epidemic, with only 10 confirmed cases reported, partly because mask-wearing considerably hindered the spread of infections. Citing the results of British research showing that 99 percent of patients who needed intensive care for Covid had not been vaccinated, he said even if vaccines could not completely prevent infection, they could prevent it from becoming deadly. New mutations of Covid have been reported since the discovery of the Delta variant but none of them are cause for concern because of their ability to spread fast or because vaccines don’t give protection against them, he said.

Photo credit: MTI