Echinos village placed under quarantine due to spike of infections and deaths

Restrictive measures were imposed in Echinos already on June 11, however, authorities decided for a total lockdown at an emergency meeting that lasted almost all night.

As of 6:00 a.m. Thursday, all stores except pharmacies and food stores are closed, the use of mask outside is mandatory,.

Residents are allowed to exit their homes only to go to pharmacy and food stores and cannot leave the village.

Food and medicine supply to stores is done with specific trucks.

The measures are in effect until 6 a.m. on June 25, when authorities will reassess the situation.

🚫Σε απόλυτη απομόνωση για 7⃣ ημέρες ο Εχίνος με εντολή του Υφυπουργού Πολιτικής Προστασίας & Διαχείρισης Κρίσεων @nhardalias
✅Συναγερμός & ολονύκτια συνεδρίαση στον Θάλαμο Επιχειρήσεων της @GSCP_GR@RegionEMTH #Covid19 #μενουμε_ασφαλεις

Περισσότερα🔗 https://t.co/8Fe8IZxqjl pic.twitter.com/Q2ZyUwzNtj

— Civil Protection GR (@GSCP_GR) June 18, 2020

Health experts attribute the spike of infections in the village came after the Ramadan celebrations.

Epidemiology Professor, Athina Linou, told Skai TV that “the religious minority of Thrace was a backdoor, because they live in close contact. The crisis came after the Ramadan celebration.”

She stressed that it is up to public health officials to get the right message across.

“We should have taken care of these people and thoroughly informed them in their own language. It’s not their fault that we did not manage to convince them,” Linou pointed out.

“It simply came to our notice then. It is not the fault of those who did not succeed in convincing them “, the professor of epidemiology pointed out.

The village in the municipality of Myki has some 2,500 residents with the majority of them being Pomaks, Slavic Muslims who speak a Bulgarian dialect.

Echinos was placed under quarantine again in March, when a couple who worked in Germany returned to the village due to the pandemic circumstances.