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Update – 13/04/2021

As of the latest update by the Greek authorities, the total number of confirmed Covid-19 diagnosed cases in Greece is 297,086. 76 new deaths were reported raising the total number to 8,961. The number of patients treated in intensive care units is currently 781. 1,606 new cases were announced yesterday in Greece. 716 of the new cases were found in the Attica region and 218 new cases in the Thessaloniki region.

Greece reopened its high schools on Monday after five months, after authorities made available home-testing kits they hope will help control the pandemic. Students of lyceums, covering the final three years of schooling, returned to schools, amid stubbornly high Covid-19 infection numbers. Pupils and teachers must continue to wear masks and undergo at least two coronavirus tests a week (every Monday and Thursday).

Negative Covid-19 test required to attend school

Those who attend school will have to carry proof of a negative Covid-19 test. Testing is obligatory also for those who have been vaccinated against the virus. Greece began a program of free distribution of Covid-19 antigen self-tests by pharmacies — exclusively to high school students aged 16-18 and teachers — last week.

The test is given upon presentation of a valid AMKA social security number and, together with the self test kit, recipients are given written instructions on the correct taking of the sample.

The registration of self tests per AMKA is done in real time to avoid the phenomenon of multiple tests being handed out by different pharmacies to the same person.

Self tests are rapidly detectable nasal-swab tests (using a nasal instead of nasopharyngeal / oral pharyngeal sample), performed at home and do not require the supervision of a health professional.

Authorities clarified that the individual self tests are designed for healthy and asymptomatic individuals.

For those with symptoms of infection, i.e., a fever, cough or other symptoms, a negative test must always also be confirmed by performing a molecular test. This means that self-tests must be carried out even if there are no symptoms of COVID-19, since one in three carriers of the virus is asymptomatic.

During an announcement to the public, Marios Themistokleous, Greek Secretary General for Primary Health Care, announced that over two million doses of the coronavirus vaccine have now been distributed in Greece. Themistokleous also noted that the country would receive its first batch of the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine against the coronavirus on Wednesday, April 14.

The shipment of 33,600 doses will be distributed to Greeks starting on Monday, April 19.

By June, the country will have received 1.3 million doses of the coronavirus vaccine from Johnson & Johnson.

On Saturday, the online platform for vaccination appointments opened for Greeks aged 60 to 64, and in a few weeks, on April 24, it will open for those aged 50 to 59.

Maria Theodoridou, head of Greece’s National Vaccination Committee, addressed issues regarding the AstraZeneca vaccine, which has links to a rare blood clotting disorder, called cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST). “We are carefully monitoring the current data,” Theodoridou stated on Monday. She stressed that instances of blood clots are “very rare…after vaccination,” specifically one in 100,000, and that there are no recorded cases of the disorder after the second dose of the vaccine.

In more detail, the 1,606 new cases detected per Regional Unit:

  • Attica 716
    • Eastern Attica 79
    • Northern Sector of Athens 102
    • West Attica 44
    • Western Sector of Athens 94
    • Central Sector of Athens 179
    • Southern Sector of Athens 103
    • Islands 6
    • Piraeus 109
  • Thessaloniki 218
  • Etoloakarnania 11
  • Argolida 6
  • Arcadia 17
  • Arta 1
  • Achaia 74
  • Boeotia 9
  • Grevena 1
  • Drama 3
  • Evros 6
  • Evia 23
  • Evrytania 1
  • Ilia 11
  • Imathia 18
  • Heraklion 17
  • Thassos 6
  • Ioannina 16
  • Kavala 16
  • Kalymnos 24
  • Karditsa 23
  • Kastoria 9
  • Kefalonia 1
  • Kilkis 28
  • Kozani 47
  • Corinth 11
  • Laconia 2
  • Larissa 41
  • Lasithi 4
  • Lesvos 2
  • Lemnos 1
  • Magnesia 15
  • Messinia 2
  • Xanthi 11
  • Pella 28
  • Pieria 14
  • Rethymnon 13
  • Rodopi 12
  • Rhodes 1
  • Samos 1
  • Serres 27
  • Trikala 3
  • Fthiotida 12
  • Florina 3
  • Fokida 2
  • Chalkidiki 10
  • Chania 11
  • Chios 2
  • Under investigation 65

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