TIRANA, Jan. 2 – Albanians brought in New Year 2022 with family and public gatherings and fireworks — and with health experts worrying that the celebrations will lead to an increase in COVID-19 infections.
Authorities lifted the nighttime curfew for one night only, as the new year arrived, and the festive atmosphere pushed thousands of residents to neglect pandemic precautions.
Doctors say the celebrations could result in a new wave of mass infections, as well as increased hospitalizations.
As the pandemic continues and shifts from the Delta to the Omicron variants, Albanians appear to have become jaded with protective measures as they try to keep their livelihoods going. In turn, the infection numbers have continued to be steady for weeks, with several lives lost on a daily basis. More than 2,000 Albanians died in 2021.
Epidemiologist Ilir Alimehmeti, a lecturer at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Tirana, says that the increased numbers of Albanians with some natural (recoveries) and artificial (vaccines) immunity should not have a false sense of security and people should continue to be cautious as they can still get and transmit the virus, hurting those without immunity.
He said trends showed that crowds of more than 100 are to blame for spikes in infections.
Still, things are better than a year ago, experts say, recoveries, vaccines and new treatment methods are saving lives. And there are plenty of vaccines for those who want them, including third booster shots. More than 300,000 Pfizer doses arrived at year’s end.
“Vaccination statistics are inaccurate due to the movement of people coming and leaving the country,” Dr. Alimehmeti says. “Most Albanians who travel and live abroad have already been vaccinated by other countries, although here they are mistakenly listed as still unvaccinated.”
Doctors are still worried about the pandemic, and they say only spring will tell whether we can be optimistic – and that is a few months away.
At less than 100, current COVID-19 hospitalization numbers are about half of those seen in November 2020, when hospitalizations were around 180 people on average.
However, according to doctors, this should not lower the caution exercised by residents and the healthcare system.
As anyone who lives in Albania can see, other than the nighttime curfew, few of the other regulations are being followed in terms of mask wearing indoors and not having crowds gather together both indoors and outdoors.
During the holiday season, many regulations were essentially ignored. Health experts now wait for the next couple of the weeks to see how the holiday celebrations have affected infection numbers.
