Update – 04/03/2021
March 4, 2021
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As of the latest update by the Greek authorities, the total number of confirmed Covid-19 diagnosed cases in Greece is 197,279. 40 new deaths were reported raising the total number to 6,597. The number of patients treated in intensive care units is currently 431. 2,702 new cases were announced yesterday in Greece. 1,269 of the new cases were found in the Attica region and 314 new cases in the Thessaloniki region.
New anti-virus measures announced — most movement restricted to 2 km radius
In an address to the public on Wednesday, Deputy Minister for Civil Protection Nikos Chardalias announced a series of new coronavirus measures. These new restrictions further limit the movement of Greeks as the country tries to suppress a rapidly increasing transmission rate amongst its citizens.
Since the beginning of the lockdown in November, Greeks have had to send an SMS to a toll-free number declaring their purpose for leaving the home. The reasons for movement include exercise, shopping for essential items, going to the bank, helping someone in need, and going to the doctor or pharmacy.
From now on, in every region of the country, regardless of transmission risk, citizens leaving the home for essential purchases and bank transactions will be limited to establishments in their neighborhood within a 2-kilometer radius.
Additionally, those who go out for exercise must only do so on foot or on a bicycle. Therefore, those who drive to a certain area for exercise will be in violation of the new restrictions.
Health Minister Vassilis Kikilias announced new measures to alleviate the pressure on Attica’s healthcare system. The minister mentioned that Attica, Greece’s most populous region, is facing its toughest challenge since the beginning of the pandemic.
“We will have to implement emergency planning” stated the minister. He acknowledged the immense pressure on Attica’s healthcare system. “It is easy to see that the healthcare system is being pushed beyond its limits with this rate of new patient admissions” he added. There are currently over 1,500 Covid patients being treated in the region’s hospitals.
The plan calls for an increase in capacity for both regular Covid care units as well as specialized Covid Intensive Care units (ICU). Over the last three weeks, 449 regular care units and 90 ICUs have been created to reduce the pressure on the region’s healthcare system.
“We have increased the capacity of our treatment units by 40%” said Mr Kikilias. The Health Ministry’s efforts are ongoing, as over the next few days it plans on establishing 29 new ICUs in three of Attica’s hospitals.
Additionally, several hospitals in Attica will be designated as Covid hospitals and will be exclusively treating patients suffering from the virus. To complement this, some hospitals, most notably the NIMITS military hospital, are being designated as non-Covid and will be used to treat other patients from hospitals that are under extreme pressure treating Covid patients. Private hospitals have also been instrumental in supporting the work of Covid designated hospitals and have already offered over 120 non-Covid ICUs in Attica.
The emergency plan was designed in the early days of the pandemic and has already been put into effect in Northern Greece in November.
Authorities expect deliveries of vaccines against Covid-19 to progressively increase as of this month and in April in particular. This will allow more jabs to be administered so that the government’s goal of building a “wall of immunity” is achieved by the end of spring as vulnerable groups will have been vaccinated.
To this end, the Health Ministry is in contact with the companies that produce the vaccines in order to finalize, within the week, the quantities that Greece will receive so that it can proceed with the vaccination of the next groups in line based on the prioritization of the National Vaccination Committee. Although the plan was to receive 1,430,000 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine by the end of March, it has not been ruled out that this number could be higher.
The jab rate is expected to pick up further in April with the addition of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Health Minister Vassilis Kikilias said yesterday that at least 1,750,000 vaccinations will have been carried out by the end of March and that all citizens over the age of 60 will have been vaccinated within May.
In more detail, the 2,353 new cases detected per Regional Unit:
