FLiRT variants are spreading These popular vacation destinations are currently corona hotspots

The new FLiRT variants are causing infection numbers to rise again. Not so much in Switzerland, but in some popular vacation destinations on the Mediterranean. blue News shows where the risk of infection is particularly high at the moment.

The number of laboratory-confirmed Covid-19 cases in Switzerland has increased at a low level in recent weeks - by around 50 percent in the past four weeks. For example, 484 new cases were registered in the week from July 8 to 14. By way of comparison: at the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic in January 2022, the FOPH recorded up to 250,000 confirmed Covid-19 cases per week. However, the number of unreported cases is likely to be significantly higher, as hardly anyone is still getting tested.

The reason for the increase in infections is, on the one hand, the decrease in immunity acquired through previous infections and, on the other hand, the new sub-variants Omikron KP.2 and KP.3 are driving up the numbers. They have new mutations that enable them to better circumvent existing immune defenses.

The Covid-19 infection rate and thus the risk of infection has also been rising in other European countries since May, as figures from the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) show. These include some popular vacation destinations:

In Italy, an increase in the number of infections is clearly noticeable - the number of reported new infections rose from 2505 in the penultimate week of June to 8942 cases in the week from July 11 to 17, according to the weekly report from the Italian Ministry of Health. Hospital cases have also been on the rise for several weeks.

"As we head towards vacation travel, with trains and planes, but also very crowded tourist destinations, wearing a mask remains one of the best defensive measures," the Italian news portal "Ilmessaggero.it" quotes Massimo Andreoni, Director of the Italian Society for Infectious and Tropical Diseases, as saying.

Spain has recently seen a similar trend to Italy. Since April, the seven-day incidence has risen significantly, by 27 percent. This is according to information from the Spanish health institute Carlos III from mid-July. However, according to the Ministry of Health, the number of severe cases is only increasing slightly.

Mallorca is particularly affected, presumably also due to the numerous events on the popular vacation island, a spokeswoman for the Balearic Ministry of Health confirmed to the "Mallorca Zeitung" a few weeks ago. The spokeswoman did not have data from hospitals on patients with Covid-19, but many health centers currently have their hands full treating the milder cases.

There has been a significant increase in Covid-19 cases in Portugal. There are almost twelve deaths and 400 new infections per day, epidemiologist Manuel Carmo Gomes told the platform "The Portugal News" at the beginning of July. A figure that has more than tripled since the end of May. "If we go back about two months, we had a death every two days back then," said the scientist from the University of Lisbon.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Greece recorded 4,100 new coronavirus cases between 1 and 7 July. This brings the total number of reported coronavirus cases to 12,600 (as of July 7). The latest report from the national health authority EODY records 21 Covid-19 deaths and 575 hospital admissions within one week.

In Cyprus, a total of 474 people were infected with the coronavirus between July 1 and 8. The seven-day incidence has thus increased by almost 53 percent compared to the previous week. The World Health Organization (WHO) statistics report 52.9 new infections per 100,000 inhabitants or a total of 1,800 cases (as of July 7, 2024).