The number of COVID-19 infected patients is up at Georgian hospitals. Specialists explain the increase in cases with the summer period and the growth of crowded events. Doctors urge the population to wear masks in their daily lives.

As the head of the First University Clinic, Levan Ratiani notes, the number of patients has increased in the last 4-5 days.

According to him, infection cases are especially observed among pregnant women and people over 60 years old.

"It's been 4-5 days since the number of infected population increased dramatically. We have 2 times more patients in the clinic compared to the hospital beds. Also, I want to tell you that moderate and severe patients prevail. It is especially high among pregnant women and people over 60 years of age. Symptoms and diseases characteristic of COVID-19 are revealed, including pneumonia, but unlike the previous strain, this strain is neurotoxic. Those infected with COVID-19 are characterized by mild encephalopathy, which was not detected in the previous period," Ratiani explains in an interview with the public broadcaster.

Georgian health authorities have registered 2,570 new cases of Covid-19 over the past week, with the figure including three deaths and 1,103 recoveries and marking an increase in confirmed cases of the virus in the country.

The latest update also shows the weekly positivity rate standing at 4.05 percent, the National Centre for Disease Control said on Tuesday.

The figure for weekly Covid-19 cases in previous weeks also featured an upward trend, with the number of total weekly cases rising from 546 to 1,058 within three weeks. A total of 2,550 people have confirmed cases of the virus in the country as of today.