The businessman from South Africa flew into Athens and from there took a connecting flight to Chania to visit his parents, with whom he will be spending the holidays.
Describing the procedure that was followed, the President of EODY, Theoklis Zaoutis, said that on the day he arrived, he took a rapid test that came back negative. He underwent a rapid test every day, all of which came back negative, until November 29, when the test came back positive. Subsequently, following an additional PCR test and a specialized genetic test for the Omicron variant, the patient, who is from South Africa, tested positive.
In good clinical condition, at his home
The man is in good health and remains at home, following his doctors’ instructions, said Lena Borboudaki, director of the 7th Health Region, from Chania.
Ms. Borbudaki referred to how the country’s health authorities handled the incident, noting that «we carried out the tracing and identification process in a very short time—within two 24-hour periods—so that the mutation could be identified; no valuable time was lost at all—not even a single minute.”.
At the same time, the individual’s close contacts were notified, and everyone—both the individual and his family—is fully cooperating. The individual, who has been identified as having the new variant, remains at home and is in good clinical condition. He is exhibiting mild symptoms; we are in contact with his doctors, and he does not require hospitalization—at least as of today.».
According to the director of the 7th Regional Health Authority, the individual who was identified had a travel history that raised concerns from the very beginning, as he had traveled from South Africa.
As he pointed out, «when he arrived in Crete, the public health response mechanism was immediately activated in coordination with the president of the Public Health Organization and all relevant agencies.»
Ms. Borboudaki emphasized the need for citizens to follow all measures to protect themselves from the pandemic and to get vaccinated.
