Greece confirmed 841 new COVID-19 cases of which 76 relate to known clusters and 43 were identified at entry points to the country. There were also 10 deaths bringing Greece’s coronavirus death toll to 559 since the virus began.
There are fears that the country’s viral load has risen visibly, said Professor Gkikas Magiorkinis, member of the Health Ministry’s coronavirus committee .
Professor Magiorkinis said that the daily rate of infections in Greece doubled in two weeks, while deaths rose closer to 10 and intubated patients climbed closer to 90 per day. In Attica – the most populous of all regions in Greece – confirmed COVID-19 cases rose by 40 per cent compared to the week before. He added, however, that infection rates in other prefectures were a lot more aggressive, accounting for a lower ratio of Attica infections recently compared to the national total.
The professor also noted that people aged 19 to 40 were twice as likely to become infected than other age groups, and he reminded them they are not invincible.
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In terms of the flu vaccine, he said that over 2.3 million prescriptions have been written out, and 1.7 million vaccinations taken place.
Speaking at the briefing also, Deputy Minister for Civil Protection & Crisis Management Nikos Hardalias referred to the new threat level classification (Levels 1 to 4), along with an online map (https://covid19.gov.gr/covid-map/) that provides travellers and local authorities with consistent information on measures to be observed locally.
He said that as of Monday, the alertness level would change in 24 of 74 prefectures in Greece: 13 showed improvement while 11 showed worsening. However, only two prefectures of Greece, Kastoria and Kozani, will be at the highest coronavirus alert level 4 as of Monday, he noted while most prefectures (58) are classified as Level 1 or 2.
Commenting on the two measures announced on Thursday by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the minister clarified that people working during the overnight curfews imposed in high-alert regions must be able to provide an employer’s permit, or an Ergani platform certificate if freelancing.
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Hardalias also revealed that as of this coming Wednesday, alert levels and decisions will be taken on the basis of individual islands rather than island groups, as differences have been observed among them and measures need to be adjusted accordingly.