A total of 50 new coronavirus cases have been confirmed Agios Nikolaos Municipality, eastern Crete, setting health authorities on alert. They step up testing and monitoring to contain bigger spread of the virus in the 10,000-resident area.
Among the 50 positive tests reported in the last couple of days, 20 were toddlers in one nursery, children in two kindergartens and pupils in four elementary schools. The remaining cases have been detected in the general population of the municipality and this include workers ate the nursing home, the local hospital and public services.
Speaking to Skai TV, deputy Mayor of Agios Nikolaos, Thomas Haritakis said that one toddler in the nursery was tested positive but the parents did not inform the facility. In a week, two members of personnel had conducted the virus.
The virus quickly spread beyond the nursery borders.
The nursery in Ammouda will remain closed for two weeks, 200 children and 50 personnel are expected to undergo PCR tests, the deputy mayor added.
Mayor Antonis Zervos said that the Municipality was not placed in tougher lockdown regime and remains marked “yellow” as the outbreak source is the nursing home, the tracing procedure easy, the infected children are slightly ill and they do not transfer epidemiological load.
On Sunday and Monday tests are reportedly to be carried out in some 150 children of the nursery and the elementary schools where pupils were tested positive on Sunday and Monday.
Drive-through Rapid tests for the general population are reportedly scheduled for upcoming Tuesday, February 2, 2021.
Six elementary school departments have been shut down following outbreaks among students and teachers.
Thank you for letting us know! I am telling all my friends to be careful and to stay protected.
I track cases on Crete on a daily basis from your reports. From the official figures there have been 50 cases in the whole Lasithi prefecture in the last 7 days. Working backwards from today’s report: 7, 18, 14, 9, 1, 0 and 1. I am not sure how that equates to “50 in the last couple of days”. Also the article says in the Municipality of Agios Nikolaos while I would have assumed that some of the Lasithi cases were in other municipalities, e.g. resulting from the outbreak near Siteia? Sometimes figures are presented in a very confusing way.
I’d like to know whether any action will be taken against the parents who sent their child to nursery school knowing it had tested positive and didn’t tell anybody! They should face the same fines as someone organising a prohibited party – double in fact because they KNEW the child was positive. It beggars belief how some people can be so selfishly stupid.