The scenic city of Thessaloniki, often celebrated as Greece's cultural heart, is grappling with a fresh emergency tied to its waste management and sewage networks. Repeated strikes by refuse collectors have previously resulted in trash heaping up on the streets of the city. EU officials earlier this year voiced their concern, stating that: "Thessaloniki is drowning in rubbish.
" However, recent sewage system examinations have uncovered an underlying spread of Covid-19 within the popular tourist destination. The EODY, Greece's National Public Health Organisation, has noted a spike in hospital admissions due to Covid . In just one week, from July 8 to 14, over 650 cases were reported nationwide, a tripling of the numbers from the corresponding week the previous year, reports the Express .
Current data from Thessaloniki's wastewater analysis indicates that Covid-19 case numbers are doubling roughly every 18 days. The Greek authorities are handing out water to tourists amid the unprecedented heatwave (Image: GETTY) Speaking to a Greek television news channel, Matina Pagoni, President of The Association of Hospital Doctors' Union of Athens and Piraeus (EINAP), said: "It's summer, we're going on vacation, we never said the coronavirus was gone." She added: "The truth is that this year, compared to last year, the cases have nothing to do with it.
There are too many, there are many hospitalisations and also deaths. 21-22 deaths are too many." With the majority of Covid cases now attri.