Expert: Europe COVID spike may be due to eased protocols, winter

The spike of COVID-19 infections in Europe may be due to the winter season as well as the relaxation of health protocols, an infectious disease expert said Friday.

At the Laging Handa briefing, Dr. Edsel Salvana said the cold weather had driven individuals indoors, where there is less air ventilation.

“Well, it’s both, actually. Alam naman kasi natin na sa mga bansa na may winter, people tend to spend more time indoors. And alam naman natin ventilation is key sa pag spread ng COVID,” Salvana said

(We know that in countries with winter, people tend to spend more time indoors. And we all know that ventilation is key in the spread of COVID-19.)

Further, he said residents had become “somewhat careless” and stopped using their face masks after their vaccination rates increased.

“On top of that, hindi na sila nagma-mask so nagpatong-patong talaga (they had stopped wearing face masks, and it added up to possible causes),” he added.

According to an AFP News report, daily new cases in France hit a seven-month high hitting 32,591 on Wednesday while Germany reported record coronavirus fatalities and infections on Thursday.

But, Salvana said the number of fatalities due to COVID-19 has remained low due to the protection from the vaccines.

“Bagamat ang maganda lang, ‘yung silver lining, even though tumataas ‘yung cases nila, ‘yung deaths ay nananatiling mababa dahil the vaccines continue to protect [people] against severe disease,” he said.

(The silver lining is that even though cases increased, their death rates remained low due to the vaccines.) —LBG, GMA News