Greece registered 2,188 new coronavirus infections in the last 24 hours, with 5 of these identified at entry points to the country, the National Public Health Organization (EODY) reported on Friday.
Greece has confirmed 373,881 infections from the start of the pandemic (daily change: +0.6 pct). In the confirmed cases of the last 7 days, 50 infections are related to travel from abroad and 2,629 to other confirmed cases.
There are also 56 deaths recorded in the last 24 hours, bringing the total of pandemic victims to 11,322. Of these, 95.2 pct had an underlying condition and/or were 70 years old.
A total of 677 patients are on ventilators in hospitals. Their median age is 67 years and 83 pct have an underlying condition and/or are aged 70 or more. Another 2,255 have been discharged from ICUs since the pandemic began.
In addition, 381 Covid-19 patients were admitted to hospital in the last 24 hours (daily change of a +30.03 pct). The average admission of patients with Covid-19 to hospitals over the last 7 days was 344.
The median age of new infections is 44 years, while the median age of the deceased is 78.
Covid-designated hospitals returning to normal operations, officials say at briefing
Curfew begins half an hour after midnight, as of tonight (May 14), Deputy Civil Defense Minister for Crisis Management Nikos Hardalias said at a regular live briefing on Friday.
During the briefing, Hardalias reminded the public that curfew lasts to 05:00 and exemptions include work, health and taking pets for walks. He also reviewed all changes effective May 14 related to travel between prefectures and to the islands, and the safety protocols required.
He also reminded the public that on the same day, the SMS system used when leaving home (13033) would be abolished, and that border stations for overland entry in northern Greece had specific hours.
Speaking of recent pandemic developments, some of the Greek areas showing a spike in coronavirus infections after Orthodox Easter holidays include islands like Ikaria, Karpathos, Naxos, Corfu and Skiathos, said Vana Papaevangelou, children’s infectious diseases professor and member of the Health Ministry’s coronavirus experts committee.
New infections relate to peopls aged 20-36, who had a mild Covid-19 infection. “It is clear that younger people went to see their families during Easter and dispersed the virus to several regions of Greece,” she said, calling on the public to distinguish relaxation of restrictive measures versus that of personal behavior, and to use self-testing.
Alternate Health Minister Vassilis Kontozamanis said Covid-designated hospitals will gradually return to their normal operations, as admissions for Covid are dropping. Thriasio will return to normal operation on May 21, the Errikos Dinan (Henri Dunant) will do its last Sunday as emergency Covid hospital on May 23, and Sismanoglio will also return to its normal operation.
Next week, hospitals KAT, Gennimatas and Attiko will turn over Covid-designated beds to non-Covid cases, Kontozamanis said.
Also speaking at the briefing, epidemiologist and committee member Gkikas Magiorkinis said the number of patients in ICUs this past week had dropped by about 8%, and new admissions for Covid also showed a drop.