ATHENS – Hopes that the Coronavirus pandemic was starting to show the beginning of the end in Greece, as well as the world, were dimmed with warnings that COVID-19 isn’t going away just yet.

Alternate Health Minister Mina Gaga, a physician, said that, “We have to learn to live with this new reality. We have to be careful and stick to the measures,” she said.

That was in reference to what’s left of health restrictions that were pulled back so far that, along with the Omicron 2 sub-variant, has seen cases rising again after receding, and several dozen deaths a day still.

One health expert said cases could hit 30,000 a day by the end of March, almost triple whate they had been at the beginning of the month when it seemd there were prospects life could be getting better finally.

Nikos Tzanakis, a pulmonology professor and Vice-President of the Greek Pulmonary Society, told SKAI radio that the number of deaths and intubations due to Covid-related causes will remain mostly stabilized.

But cases could shoot up again as rabid anti-vaxxers who refused to be inoculated continue spreading the virus although he said vaccinations that have protected some 70 percent of the population slowed the pandemic.

He said those who were vaccinated only within the past three to four months could still be infected but not have symptoms nearly as seriously as the unvaccinated, particularly the old or those with multiple underlying conditions.

“Most of them however will be asymptomatic or experience a soar throat,” he said of the fully vaccinated who will test positive, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis long ago backing away from a pledge to consider mandatory shots.

Asked about the prospect of a fourth booster shot, Tzanakis said that it should be considered for people suffering from chronic diseases such as respiratory system diseases, chronic kidney disease and heart failure or those over 75.