The Delta Variant of the Coronavirus has made its way into the country, according to a notice put out by the health authorities of Albania.
A few weeks prior the Ministry of Health noted the presence of unusual signatures in new samples that were analysed. These samples were sent to a specialised laboratory in Germany, which later confirmed the presence of the Delta variant.
The official public notice did not include information on how many Delta-confirmed cases there were and from which areas they originated. Over the last two weeks there has been a rise in confirmed cases of infection, which may be attributed to the emergence of this variant in Albania, according to relevant authorities. The Delta variant is, after all, characterised by its high transmissibility.
At the end of June there were an estimated 53 active cases of infection in the country, the current numbers are over five times that value at 280.
The relevant authorities in Albania once again call on the citizens to respect the preventive measures set in place. The official notice declares that ‘The Delta variant of the Sars-Cov2 is the most transmissible so far. Therefore, respecting the social distancing measures, using face masks indoors and adhering to the hygiene protocols are of paramount importance to curb the spread of the virus’. Despite this, the Albanian citizens have not been adopting the safety measures in their daily lives for some time now. Even though masks are obligatory indoors, their usage is rarely seen.
Tourism on the other hand, is something that has not seen any sort of restriction or control, as the Albanian borders are open to foreign visitors. In fact, incoming tourists do not have to provide proof of vaccination, nor do they have to be in the possession of a negative test that is 48 or 72 hours old.
At the moment, only 647 thousand Albanian citizens, or 22.7% of the population, have received the vaccine. Of these, 496 thousands have acquired both doses. The Ministry of Health yet again announced ‘the call for widespread vaccinations to control the spread of the virus’. Vaccines for citizens over the age of 18 have been made available for a few days now, and can be procured in any of the vaccination centers in the country.
