Update – 16/11/2020

As of the latest update by the Greek authorities on Sunday, the total number of confirmed Covid-19 diagnosed cases in Greece is 74,205. 71 new deaths were reported raising the total number to 1,106. The number of patients treated in intensive care units stands at 392. 1,698 new cases were announced yesterday in Greece, maintaining the daily number close to 2,000. 405 of the new cases were found in the Attica region.

Given the gloomy epidemiological picture of Thessaloniki and the wider region of northern Greece, health experts see Attica as the last bastion in the battle against the coronavirus and the key to its outcome. This is due to two reasons: Firstly, because it has the hospital infrastructure to absorb patients from other parts of the country, and, secondly, owing to the size of its population, any drastic increase in the number of cases would test the resilience of the National Health System (ESY) to breaking point. At the moment, hospital staff and health authorities are struggling to keep ESY afloat in the face of an unprecedented wave of coronavirus admissions, which is already testing the limits of the hospitals in northern Greece. Although the virus transmission rate has declined slightly in recent days, government officials acknowledge that it is more likely to “get worse first” before any visible signs that it is under control emerge. As a result, the timing and the parameters of the current lockdown are being examined.

As coronavirus cases continue to rise, the Health Ministry plans to utilize the infrastructure of private clinics in Attica to relieve the rapidly growing pressure on National Health System (ESY) facilities. The average number of Covid-19 cases admitted to hospitals is now 350 per day and has doubled in the last 10 days, while the number of intubated ICU patients is constantly rising. Scrambling to ensure that the “final fortress” of Attica will not fall to the pandemic, where ESY still endures, authorities will direct non-Covid cases to private clinics in the next few days so as to provide public hospitals with greater leeway to treat coronavirus patients. According to Kathimerini, the Health Ministry has already reached an agreement with private clinics in Attica, which will probably start accepting patients next week. In the same context, yesterday Deputy Health Minister Vassilis Kontozamanis did not rule out the possibility of recruiting private doctors.

Gatherings of more than four persons have been banned from Sunday through Wednesday. Violations will incur fines from 300 euros (for participants) to 5,000 (for organizers). The ban, announced by the police, is explicitly aimed at preventing gatherings and marches in commemoration of the 1973 student uprising against the then military regime. Despite the ban, the Communist Party insists on marching on Tuesday.

Authorities have stepped up controls and enforcement of a 9 pm – 5 am curfew, including by making arrests. Two foreign university students on the Erasmus exchange program who hosted an after-hours party at their apartment in the northern city of Thessaloniki were given suspended sentences of 2 years and two months Saturday. The students, a 24-year-old Palestinian man and a 21-year-old Frenchwoman were arrested at 10.30 p.m. Friday and fined 3,000 euros ($3,550) each on the spot. The 15 other persons attending the party, all students from western European countries, were fined 300 euros ($355) each but were not arrested.

Mobile units from the National Organization for Public Health (EODY) are offering free, drive-through rapid antigen tests on Saturday in the cities of Larissa and Xanthi, in central and northern Greece, respectively. The tests are conducted in Larissa’s covered market and opposite the AOX team stadium of Xanthi, near the Kosinthos Bridge. Health authorities continue to ramp up testing around the country as infections, intubations and deaths have jumped in recent weeks. 

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis told Greece’s top cleric, Archbishop Ieronymos, that it is “up to us” to contain the spread of the coronavirus and allow churches to hold services during the Christmas season. The statement was made during a meeting at the prime minister’s office on Saturday morning, during which Mitsotakis briefed Ieronymos about the developments with the pandemic in the country. “It is up to us to observe the measures and to have Christmas with our Churches open,” he said. Ieronymos agreed that “we all have a responsibility to protect people and public health with our actions, so that we can celebrate Christmas in our churches.” Both sides expressed the optimism that the observance of health rules and the consequent improvement of the epidemiological data will allow people to spend Christmas in a better environment.

The former Metropolitan of Kalavryta, Amvrosios, tested positive for the novel coronavirus but refused to be admitted to hospital for treatment, a local news website reported on Saturday. Amvrosios announced the news himself, while accompanying the current Metropolitan of Kalavryta, Ieronymos, to the hospital in Rio, where he checked in after also having been infected with the virus, according to the website flamis.gr. The doctors urged Amvrosios to stay, as he is facing additional health problems but he refused, signing a voluntary dismissal document. Amvrosios will self-isolate at home.

Elementary schools, kindergartens and childcare centers will shut down for two weeks to help contain the spread of the coronavirus. Elementary school students will be schooled by a combination of educational TV and remote instruction, with the TV broadcasting lessons in the mornings and remote instruction from 2 to 5 pm, Education Minister Niki Kerameus announced. Kindergarten students will receive remote schooling from 2 to 4.20 p.m. starting Wednesday. Schools will stay closed at least until Friday, November 27. For now, the plan is to open all grades on Monday, November 30, but the lockdown could be extended.

Regarding yesterday’s 1,698 cases:

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

405 cases were detected in the regional unit of Attica

435 cases were detected in the regional unit of Thessaloniki

9 cases were detected in the regional unit of Aitoloakarnania

4 cases were detected in the regional unit of Argolida

4 cases were detected in the regional unit of Arkadia

11 cases were detected in the regional unit of Arta

24 cases were detected in the regional unit of Achaia

4 cases were detected in the regional unit of Voiotia

38 cases were detected in the regional unit of Grevena

29 cases were detected in the regional unit of Drama

28 cases were detected in the regional unit of Evros

4 cases were detected in the regional unit of Evoia

8 cases were detected in the regional unit of Evritania

4 cases were detected in the regional unit of Ilia

37 cases were detected in the regional unit of Imathia

20 cases were detected in the regional unit of Iraklio

6 cases were detected in the regional unit of Thesprotia

11 cases were detected in the regional unit of Ioannina

26 cases were detected in the regional unit of Kavala

3 cases were detected in the regional unit of Kalimnos

44 cases were detected in the regional unit of Karditsa

1 case was detected in the regional unit of Kastoria

5 cases were detected in the regional unit of Kerkyra

22 cases were detected in the regional unit of Kilkis

8 cases were detected in the regional unit of Kozani

7 cases were detected in the regional unit of Korinthos

2 cases were detected in the regional unit of Lakonia

76 cases were detected in the regional unit of Larissa

30 cases were detected in the regional unit of Lesvos

2 cases were detected in the regional unit of Lefkada

43 cases were detected in the regional unit of Magnisia

3 cases were detected in the regional unit of Messinia

1 case was detected in the regional unit of Mykonos

27 cases were detected in the regional unit of Xanthi

69 cases were detected in the regional unit of Pellas

74 cases were detected in the regional unit of Pieria

3 cases were detected in the regional unit of Preveza

2 cases were detected in the regional unit of Rethimno

20 cases were detected in the regional unit of Rodopi

5 cases were detected in the regional unit of Rodos

1 case was were detected in the regional unit of Samos

30 cases were detected in the regional unit of Serres

2 cases were detected in the regional unit of Sporades

3 cases were detected in the regional unit of Syros

22 cases were detected in the regional unit of Trikala

4 cases were detected in the regional unit of Fthiotida

9 cases were detected in the regional unit of Florina

2 cases were detected in the regional unit of Fokida

30 cases were detected in the regional unit of Chalkidiki

3 cases were detected in the regional unit of Chania

1 case was detected in the regional unit of Chios

12 cases remain under investigation

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