The number of coronavirus infections in Greece reached 84, after 11 new cases were tested positive, Health authorities announce don Monday. The constantly rising number has forced Greece to take additional measures like banning events with the participation of more than 1,000 people.
Among the confirmed cases, there are four for which authorities could not identify the source of contamination, health authorities said during a press conference earlier today.
They warned that “a further increase of coronavirus infections are expected in the country.”
81 of the infected people are Greek nationals and 3 foreign nationals – three Israelis, state broadcaster ERT TV reported.
Among the new cases are reportedly a woman on the island of Lesvos who had traveled to the Holy Land (Israel), a high-school student in Galatsi suburb of Athens, an employee at the Israeli Embassy and a 70-year-old retired member of the Greek Navy.
56 of the confirmed cases are related to pilgrims to the Holy Land, 47 were travelers and further 9 contacts of these travelers,” spokesman of the National Health Organization Sotiris Tsiodras said..
27 people are hospitalized, one of them with severe pneumonia at the University Hospital in Patras. 57 people are in “house isolation” and being monitored, he added.
Tsiodras said that “four of the confirmed cases have no exposure history” that is they have neither traveled abroad nor were in contact with other confirmed cases. “The virus transmission cannot be determined, the progress of tracking their contacts continues,” the spokesman said.
According to Alpha TV, these four cases refer to people over 60 years old, who were already hospitalized with respiratory problems. All four cases are reportedly in Athens.
Health Minister Vassilis Kikilias emphasized the “personal responsibility ” and called on “people belonging to the vulnerable groups of the society and those with flu symptoms to stay home and restrict their movements, in order to protect vulnerable people from COVID-10.”
Ζητώ από όλους μεγαλύτερη υπευθυνότητα για να περιοριστεί η διάδοση της νόσου στη χώρα μας. Ζητώ από τις ευπαθείς ομάδες & όσους έχουν συμπτώματα γρίπης να κάτσουν σπίτι τους. Είναι υποχρέωση & καθήκον όλων μας, η προστασία των ευπαθών ομάδων. #COVID2019 https://t.co/96KwrhMlXn pic.twitter.com/ASCJASjN0d
— Vassilis Kikilias (@Vkikilias) March 9, 2020
“The next two months will be crucial,” and that is why “we all have to take responsibility,” Kikkilias said at the press conference
Spokesman Tsiodras said that vulnerable groups are:
- people over 70, with chronic cardiovascular, respiratory problems, diabetes patients and those suffering from chronic immunosuppression.
He stressed that hygiene measures have to be followed in meetings of more than 50 people, citing the example of city councils. He added that all cultural or other events with over 1,000 people are cancelled, including the Athens Half-Marathon, scheduled for March 23.
Despite the health warnings, some Greeks tend to defy authorities and go around even if they were ordered to “house isolation,” like people in Pyrgos, West Peloponnese.
And not only the regular Greeks… The Holy Synod of the Greek Church ruled today that the coronavirus cannot be transmitted with the Holy Communion.
