Greece hit a new daily record with 269 new confirmed coronavirus cases, health authorities announced on Tuesday evening. This is the highest number of daily infections since the outbreak of the pandemic in the country in late February; the last higher was 262 on August 12.
Two more deaths in the last 24 hours raised the death toll to 232.
The total number of infections has reached 7,472.
The majority of the new cases are again local residents, while over 49 were detected among travelers.
Head of Greek Civil Protection said earlier on Tuesday that tourism was not to blame for the infections increase.
Of the total 7,472 cases recorded in Greece since the outbreak in late February 1,742 (23.3%) are related to travel abroad and 3,516 ( 47.1%) are related to already known case.
According to the official daily bulletin on Tuesday, the number of intubated patients in ICUs increased to 25 from 23 on Monday. Their average age is 67, among them are 7 women. 52% have underlying health problems or are aged over 70.
137 people have been discharged from ICUs since the start of the pandemic in Greece.
Two more deaths in the last 24 hours increased the fatalities to 232. Of these, 82 were women. Their average age was 77 and 95.6% of the deceased had an underlying condition.
Rolling weekly average cases at 227 from 158 last Tuesday.
Number of tests in the last 24 hours was 13,910 with 1.93% of them positive.
The daily growth is at 3,7%.
Geographical distribution August 18
The 269 new coronavirus cases have been located:
39of them were detected at entry points and another 10 travellers sought laboratories after they developed symptoms.
The remaining cases are
98 in Attica: of them 15 are linked to domestic travel
70 in Thessaloniki: of them 25 are related to cluster and 3 to domestic travel
10 in Cyclades
6 in Imathia
August 18: Map of infections in the last ten days, according to regional units
Among the cases are:
14 workers (doctors and nurses) in AHEPA hospital in Thessaloniki, the specific clinic has shut down for a couple of days.
3 asylum seekers in the hot spot of Chios
1 worker at a branch of known supermarket chain in Peristeri suburb of western Attica.
The supermarket branch has been shut down in order to get disinfected. All personnel has undergone COVId-19 test.
14 police officers in Agios Panteleimonas district of Athens have been sent to home-isolation after some of their colleagues arrested a criminal foreign national tested positive.
More information about coronavirus in Greece here.
PS This is a crucial week where it will show whether the virus has reached its peak or it will continue its rising course in the country.
