Update – 09/03/2021
March 9, 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 206,281. 39 new deaths were reported raising the total number to 6,797. The number of patients treated in intensive care units is currently 477. 1,165 new cases were announced yesterday in Greece. 556 of the new cases were found in the Attica region and 108 new cases in the Thessaloniki region.
Two private Athens medical clinics have been mobilized in the service of treating coronavirus patients as public hospitals in the Greek capital struggle with mounting admissions and intubations. According to official figures, more than 90% of Attica’s 350 or so intensive care beds for Covid patients were full on Monday, while capacity at its regular coronavirus wards reached 82%. Nationwide, capacity at Covid ICUs reached 66.5% and at regular wards 50% on Monday.
In an announcement on Tuesday, Health Minister Vassilis Kikilias confirmed that the privately owned Hellenic Healthcare Group has offered use of two of its clinics to the treatment of Covid-19 patients and had started taking in cases last Thursday. The ministry also plans to dedicate the Sismanogleio Hospital to the treatment of Covid patients while taking some of the pressure off other coronavirus referral hospitals by transferring non-Covid patients to the NIMTS and the Henry Dunant, and outsourcing emergency admissions from the Asklipeio and Thriaseio to private medical facilities.
It had also planned to use 30 beds at the Halkida General Hospital in Evia to treat non-Covid patients from other hospitals in Athens, though this was put on hold following reactions from doctors there.
A 37-day-old baby boy died from the coronavirus at an Athens hospital on Monday, becoming the youngest victim of the virus in the country. The baby was receiving treatment in the children’s Hagia Sophia Hospital. He was reportedly suffering from acute respiratory distress syndrome due to Covid-19 pneumonia.
The infant, who did not suffer from any underlying disease, showed severe symptoms just a few days after birth, and experienced respiratory problems. The Greek Minister of Health, Vassilis Kikilias, expressed his distress over the health of the baby last week during his regular briefing on the health crisis. “I have been watching with anxiety, since February 19, the course of the health of the baby, who is being treated by intubation,” he noted at the time. “A small innocent soul is fighting for life” against the virus, he added, while “doctors are doing what they can.” “We hope that everything goes well”, Kikilias added.
The baby boy is tragically among the 39 people with the coronavirus who passed away in the country over the past 24-hour period.
Pressure on Greek hospitals builds up
Greece recorded a total of 1,165 cases of Covid-19 on Monday, out of the 19,025 coronavirus tests that were conducted across the country during the day, bringing the positivity rate to 6.12% in Greece.
The current figure represents 23 more than the 1,142 instances of the coronavirus that were diagnosed in Greece on Sunday, just one day before. The number of people with the coronavirus who require intubation has caused concern amongst Greek health officials, who fear the pressure on Greek’s national health system.
A total of 477 people with Covid-19 were intubated in Greece’s ICUs on Monday, which represents 11 more than those recorded on Sunday.
Coronavirus situation “extremely serious”
Earlier, government spokesperson Aristotelia Peloni said that epidemiological situation in Greece remains “extremely serious.”
“It appears that the effort is becoming more and more difficult in this phase, due to people’s fatigue and the variants that in total now make up 60-70 percent of new cases in Attica, while in Crete they are close to 90 percent.” Referring to the vaccine rollout, she emphasized that over 1 million vaccinations have been performed, while some people have also received the second dose, and that, by the end of March, one million citizens will have been fully vaccinated.
This will amount to approximately ten percent of the population of the country.
Dozens of small Greek islands are becoming Covid-free as the vast majority of their residents have now been vaccinated, allowing them to prepare to welcome tourists as soon as possible this summer. Almost all islanders — in every age bracket — on Greek islands with populations of less than 1,000 have now been vaccinated against Covid-19.
Larger vacation destinations such as Mykonos, Santorini and Corfu will be targeted once the residents of Greece’s smaller islands have been vaccinated. In contrast, in the rest of the country, only people over 60 years of age are currently on the vaccination schedule. But as Greek Tourism Minister Haris Theoharis explains, “If you’re going to send a medical team to an island with a small population, it makes sense to vaccinate not just the elderly and vulnerable, but everyone.”
In more detail, the 1,165 new cases detected per Regional Unit:
