More than 1,000 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Greece, as of the latest update, with 95 new cases recorded and the death toll rising to 32.

Sydney-born immunologist Sotiris Tsiodras, Greece’s Health Ministry representative, addressed the media on Saturday night providing the most recent confirmed patient data.
As of 28 March:

  • Total number of confirmed cases amounted to 1,061.
  • The majority of those have been diagnosed in Athens.
  • There were 67 intubated patients.
  • Four more deaths had been recorded bringing the death toll to 32.
  • The average age of the casualties was reported to be 73 years old.
  • More than 14,000 COVID-19 tests had taken place.

In the last days, Kastoria was flagged as a coronavirus “hotspost” with an 89-year-old’s death on Saturday marking the 29th casualty in the country and the fifth in the region.

During the late evening press conference, Mr. Tsiodras said that the “next weeks will be critical” for Greece and emphasised the need of being constantly alert on the battle against the virus.

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He referred to the global state of the epidemic, specifically citing the case of New York City as one where the health system has been overwhelmed, as well as Italy where a brief improvement on the COVID-19 data was followed by a spike again.

Although he did make a comment on Greece not showing bad signs on the development of the spread at the moment, Mr. Tsiodras cautioned:

“As long as the virus is still here, it will constitute a threat. If you are being complacent even for a little bit, it will launch an even stronger attack.”

The immunologist also talked about the roll-out of specialised drug treatments for hospitalised patients with coronavirus.

Speaking about the understandable fear amongst the public at the moment, he advised people to “shield” themselves against the constant flow of news, stay connected with their loved ones and ensure their lifestyle is as healthy as possible.