Tirana, 13 July 2022 (MIA) — In Albania, the number of new cases of Covid-19 has risen sharply over the past 24 hours, with almost every second person testing positive for the virus, according to MIA’s Tirana correspondent. Out of the 3,353 tests performed for SARS-CoV-2, Albanian health authorities logged 1,563 new infections (46.6 percent). According to epidemiologist Ilir Alimehmeti, the wave of new infections has been fueled by the BA.5 subvariant of Omicron, which is driving a summertime surge of the coronavirus across Europe. “Even though every second person tested is positive,” he said, hospitals were not crowded so there was "no reason to panic." Official figures say 7,063 people are currently going through the acute symptoms of SARS-CoV-2 and 30 of them are in hospital. mr/