The dominant stories in Greece are forest fires and Covid. Covid cases are increasing. The table below shows figures for the beginning and end of August.
| Date (24 hours leading up to 3pm on) | New Cases | Deaths | Intubated |
| 2 – August – 21 | 2,156 | 8 | 188 |
| 27 – August – 21 | 3,076 | 22 | 337 |
| 28 – August – 21 | 3,064 | 35 | 333 |
| 30 – August – 21* | 2,343 | 19 | 338 |
Numbers are generally lower on Mondays as fewer people are tested in the preceding 24 hours. Of the 338 in intensive care, 309 (91.4%) are either unvaccinated or partially vaccinated and 29 (8.6%) are fully vaccinated. Only 1% of new cases were detected at border entry points.
The figure that worries the health services is the number of people in intensive care. It seems that the country has about 1,000 IC beds. Last week it was reported that a young man with leukaemia was denied access to intensive care because all the beds had been taken by Covid refuseniks. The vaccine take-up seems to have peaked. Estimates are that 53% of the population are fully vaccinated. While the median age for death is 78, the median age for infections is 39 so it is clear that younger unvaccinated people are not helping the situation. This brings me to another point.
Earlier in the year, in my Greek Word section (7/21), I explained that μανούλα had the additional meaning of “being an expert at getting round rules”. This was in the context of misuse and abuse of the codes we had to send by SMS for permission to leave our homes (e.g. 2 was for shopping). This has led to a more dangerous trend – the length some health workers will go to in order to avoid getting a Covid vaccination. It seems you can avoid a vaccination if you can prove you have had Covid as your body should be brimming with antibodies. I have heard of one case where one health worker got a biologist mate of his to issue a fake positive result. Another case was when an employee submitted a friend’s positive sample claiming it was her own. In his book Greece: Biography of a Modern Nation, Roddy Beaton draws a distinction between “nation” (έθνος) and “state” (κράτος), claiming that while Greeks are loyal to the former, they are mistrustful of the latter. The anti-vaxxers may be proving Beaton’s point.
Although temperatures are still above 30oC, summer seems to be ending. As the tourists leave and Greeks return to their towns and cities, the government is bracing itself for a significant increase in Covid cases. Nationwide lockdowns will be avoided but restrictions are being and will increasingly be placed on the unvaccinated. It will be interesting to see what’s in store for us this autumn and winter in terms of restrictions and the stunts being pulled by anti-vaxxers.
The fires have abated. I have checked four newspapers and they are off the front page. Kathimerini, however, had this cartoon:
It translates:
A: What are they putting out?
B: They aren’t putting out anything.
A: So, what are they doing?
B: At the end of every season, it is a parliamentary custom to have a water fight.
There may be room for optimism in the music scene. Three people responded to an advert I placed online: a guitarist, a fiddler and a button accordionist. I have sent them samples of sheet music, chords and YouTube clips. We also might have an extra whistle player. The problem is he is reluctant to get vaccinated, so we won’t let him near us. We also have a gig scheduled for Thursday 23rd September. It will be unplugged and open-air so it’s going to be a challenge for our singer. Tomorrow (Sunday 29th August) we have arranged a full practice at the unusual time of 10am. There is an excellent bakery near my place, so I will be bringing breakfast. I am happy to report that the practice went very well.
This week’s treat: two jigs composed and played by the Chicago-born fiddler, Liz Carroll. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVf9qxVhcl4