Update – 24/11/2020

As of the latest update by the Greek authorities on Sunday, the total number of confirmed Covid-19 diagnosed cases in Greece is 93,006. 84 new deaths were reported raising the total number to 1,714. The number of patients treated in intensive care units stands at 549. 1,388 new cases were announced yesterday in Greece, maintaining the daily number below 2,000. 252 of the new cases were found in the Attica region and 300 new cases in the Thessaloniki region.

Greek doctors and health officials have long been concerned about the ability of Greece’s hospitals to handle the rising number of intubated patients, who reached a record 549 on Monday. In a statement on Monday, Vana Papaevangelou, Professor of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens and member of the special coronavirus committee, warned that Greece’s national health system is currently under immense strain. Papaevangelou stated that ICUs have reached 86% capacity nationwide. In Attica, home to the capital city of Athens, ICUs are functioning at 81% capacity. In Thessaloniki, where the virus has spread rapidly, they are almost completely full at 99% capacity.

In an attempt to avoid a collapse of the health system, the state has taken over two private hospitals and an Army field hospital to house patients suffering from the virus in Thessaloniki. Hospitals in Thessaloniki have been inundated with Covid patients despite the lockdown that has been in place there since early November — even before the measure was applied nationwide. While the country-wide lockdown was set to end on the last day of November, many predict that it will be extended due to the current state of Greece’s health system.

A 25-year-old man named Thodoris Pavlidis, from Serres, a city in northern Greece, passed away after suffering with Covid-19 on Monday. His tragic death makes him the youngest person to die with the virus in Greece since the start of the pandemic. Pavlidis also suffered from preexisting health conditions and he had recently undergone open heart surgery. He was originally treated in the General Hospital of Serres, but was later transferred to Papanikolaou General Hospital in Thessaloniki, where he was intubated.

This tragic development reflects a disturbing shift in Covid-19 figures in Greece, as doctors claim that more and more young people with the virus are being admitted to hospitals and even dying from it.

On Sunday, Dimitris Bellos, or “DJ Decibel,” a well-known figure on the Greek music scene, also passed away with Covid-19. Bellos was just 39 years old when he died, and had no preexisting health conditions whatsoever. He spent three harrowing weeks being treated in the G. Gennimatas General Hospital before eventually losing his life to the virus.

Physicians in Thessaloniki are shocked by the rapid increase in the number of younger intubated patients there, many of whom are around the age of 40 and do not suffer from serious underlying health problems.

An ugly scene broke out in the northern Greek town in Chalkidiki this past weekend, after a priest celebrated the Liturgy in defiance of the new government lockdown to help contain the spread of the coronavirus. The priest ended up not being arrested by the authorities but he was fined 1,500 euros ($1,782) for holding  the service, which was attended by only two parishioners.

However, the priest’s 30-year-old son, along with one of the worshippers at the service, were arrested after they attacked police who were attempting to issue the fine to the priest. The clergyman had urged his parishioners to attend the service and defy the government’s ban on religious services as part of the most recent lockdown, reportedly telling them, “You’re either with Christ or the Coronavirus.” Despite the fact that the Archbishop of Athens and all Greece, Ieronymos, along with the Archbishop of Albania, have been hospitalized with Covid-19, the Chalkidiki cleric went on with his campaign to hold services.

Regarding yesterday’s 1,388 cases:

11 were detected during the tests carried out at Greece’s entry points

2 imported cases that took the test voluntarily

252 cases were detected in the regional unit of Attica

300 cases were detected in the regional unit of Thessaloniki

17 cases were detected in the regional unit of Aitoloakarnania

2 cases were detected in the regional unit of Arkadia

5 cases were detected in the regional unit of Arta

23 cases were detected in the regional unit of Achaia

3 cases were detected in the regional unit of Voiotia

42 cases were detected in the regional unit of Grevena

19 cases were detected in the regional unit of Drama

12 cases were detected in the regional unit of Evros

2 cases were detected in the regional unit of Evritania

10 cases were detected in the regional unit of Ilia

65 cases were detected in the regional unit of Imathia

7 cases were detected in the regional unit of Iraklio

3 cases were detected in the regional unit of Thasos

10 cases were detected in the regional unit of Ioannina

51 cases were detected in the regional unit of Kavala

19 cases were detected in the regional unit of Karditsa

1 case was detected in the regional unit of Kastoria

2 cases were detected in the regional unit of Kerkyra

32 cases were detected in the regional unit of Kilkis

6 cases were detected in the regional unit of Kozani

3 cases were detected in the regional unit of Korinthia

4 cases were detected in the regional unit of Lakonia

61 cases were detected in the regional unit of Larissa

1 case was detected in the regional unit of Lasithi

9 cases were detected in the regional unit of Lesvos

124 cases were detected in the regional unit of Magnisia

3 cases were detected in the regional unit of Messinia

8 cases were detected in the regional unit of Xanthi

88 cases were detected in the regional unit of Pella

47 cases were detected in the regional unit of Pieria

4 cases were detected in the regional unit of Preveza

3 cases were detected in the regional unit of Rethimno

1 case was detected in the regional unit of Rodopi

6 cases were detected in the regional unit of Rodos

43 cases were detected in the regional unit of Serres

39 cases were detected in the regional unit of Trikala

2 cases were detected in the regional unit of Fthiotida

5 cases were detected in the regional unit of Fokida

9 cases were detected in the regional unit of Chalkidiki

22 cases were detected in the regional unit of Chania

7 cases remain under investigation

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