Update – 17/11/2020

As of the latest update by the Greek authorities on Monday, the total number of confirmed Covid-19 diagnosed cases in Greece is 76,403. 59 new deaths were reported raising the total number to 1,165. The number of patients treated in intensive care units stands at 400. 2,198 new cases were announced yesterday in Greece, raising the daily number above 2,000. 492 of the new cases were found in the Attica region.

Almost 80% of intensive care beds set aside at Greece’s coronavirus referral hospitals for Covid-19 patients with serious symptoms are full, with the problem being most acute in northern and central Greece, sources from the Health Ministry indicated on Monday. According to the sources, of Greece’s 1,177 ICU beds for Covid-19 patients, 914 are currently occupied and just 263 are free, a rate of 22%. The free bed rate in Thessaloniki, however, is just 5%, with 182 coronavirus ICU beds occupied out of a total of 192 in the northern port city, as well as in Halkidiki, Katerini and Kavala. Hospitals in Thessaly and central Greece are also struggling, with just four (7%) free ICU beds out of 60, while in Macedonia and Thrace just 12 (12%) of 110 ICU beds are available. The Greek capital is faring better, with an occupancy rate of 30% (148 beds) of a total of 212 ICU spots. The broader region of the Peloponnese, the Ionian islands, Epirus and Western Greece has 47 Covid ICU beds, of which 25 are taken and 22 free (47%), while Crete has six free beds (33%) out of a total of 18. Military hospitals across the country have set aside 12 beds in their intensive care units for Covid-19 patients with serious symptoms, all of which are full. Meanwhile, the total number of beds set aside for coronavirus patients (critical and non-critical) across the country come to 5,629, of which 3,527 are currently occupied.

Thessaloniki, Greece’s second largest city, has five times the epidemiological load of Attica, but shows signs of faster improvement as the region was placed under lockdown a week earlier than the capital, epidemiologist Gikas Magiorkinis said on Monday. “In simple words, if Attica was in the state Thessaloniki is today, it would have had more than 2,200 infections per day,” he told a regular press briefing on the coronavirus. The slowly improving trend in the northern port city may also be due to the fact that it is a smaller urban center, he explained. “However, due to the large epidemiological burden it has and the fact that it is a large urban center, the gravity index will take a long time to improve and that is why a strict adherence to the measures is necessary to stabilize the situation.” In Thessaloniki, “there is no room for any deviation from the measures,” he said.

Interior Minister Takis Theodorikakos was self-isolating after being exposed to an aide who contracted the novel coronavirus. Theodorikakos, who tested negative over the weekend, was expected to undergo a fresh Covid-19 test on Monday. The Interior Ministry is expected to submit a bill designed to boost meritocracy in public sector hirings on Tuesday.

Mobile units of the National Organization for Public Health (EODY) will on Monday conduct rapid antigen tests in Trikala and Tyrnavos in central Greece, on the Aegean island of Andros, in Kalamata in the Peloponnese, and in Xanthi in northern Greece, authorities said. The total number of cases since the start of the pandemic stood at 74,205, with 1,106 deaths on Sunday.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has called for a more subdued celebration of the anniversary of the bloody 1973 student uprising that helped topple Greece’s then-military junta to protect public health amid a spike in coronavirus infections. Instead of the customary march to the US Embassy, Mitsotakis invited the country’s political leadership to jointly mark the anniversary with a simple visit to the memorial and a flower. On Sunday, Greek police issued a four-day ban on gatherings of more than three people that will end the day after the commemoration of the Polytechnic uprising. Leftist parties vowed to defy the ban. “We are freely choosing to restrict some of our rights to protect ourselves, those we love, and the common good,” Mitsotakis said on Monday. “Because there can be no freedom without responsibility,” he said. “This historic anniversary should not become a cause for division and human lives should be the subject of partisan experiments,” he said, stressing that 71 people had died of Covid-19 in the country’s hospitals on Sunday.

For the second time this month, there’s promising news from a Covid-19 vaccine candidate: Moderna said Monday its shots provide strong protection, a dash of hope against the grim backdrop of coronavirus surges in the US and around the world. Moderna said its vaccine appears to be 94.5% effective, according to preliminary data from the company’s still ongoing study. A week ago, competitor Pfizer Inc. announced its own Covid-19 vaccine appeared similarly effective – news that puts both companies on track to seek permission within weeks for emergency use in the US. Dr. Stephen Hoge, Moderna’s president, welcomed the “really important milestone” but said having similar results from two different companies is what’s most reassuring. “That should give us all hope that actually a vaccine is going to be able to stop this pandemic and hopefully get us back to our lives,” Hoge told The Associated Press. “It won’t be Moderna alone that solves this problem. It’s going to require many vaccines” to meet the global demand, he added.

Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou will meet with a cross-party delegation of leftist MPs at 12 p.m. on Monday, state-run Athens-Macedonia news agency reports. Sakellaropoulou will meet with MPs from main SYRIZA opposition, the Greek Communist Party (KKE) and anti-austerity Mera25 of former finance minister Yanis Varoufakis. The association of prisoners and exiles of the 1967-74 military junta (SFEA) will also be represented at the talks. The meeting will be held amid controversy over the conservative government’s decision to cancel the annual march from the Athens Polytechnic to mark the anniversary of the 1973 student uprising against the military junta. Leftist parties have criticized the decision as “undemocratic,” while authorities say it was necessary to stem a further jump in Covid-19 infections.

Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias returned to his office Monday after testing negative for Covid-19. Dendias spent five days in isolation after coming to contact with a Covid-19 patient. Interior Minister Takis Theodorikakos was self-isolating Monday after being exposed to an aide who contracted the novel coronavirus.

Regarding yesterday’s 2.198 cases:

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

4 cases that took the test voluntarily

492 cases were detected in the regional unit of Attica

491 cases were detected in the regional unit of Thessaloniki

25 cases were detected in the regional unit of Aitoloakarnania

2 cases were detected in the regional unit of Argolida

1 cases were detected in the regional unit of Arkadia

1 cases were detected in the regional unit of Arta

30 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

147 cases were detected in the regional unit of Drama

52 cases were detected in the regional unit of Evros

8 cases were detected in the regional unit of Evoia

5 cases were detected in the regional unit of Evritania

6 cases were detected in the regional unit of Ilia

38 cases were detected in the regional unit of Imathia

28 cases were detected in the regional unit of Iraklio

1 case was detected in the regional unit of Thesprotia

2 cases were detected in the regional unit of Thira

7 cases were detected in the regional unit of Ioannina

48 cases were detected in the regional unit of Kavala

27 cases were detected in the regional unit of Karditsa

13 case was detected in the regional unit of Kastoria

11 cases were detected in the regional unit of Kerkyra

1 case was detected in the regional unit of Kefalinia

18 cases were detected in the regional unit of Kilkis

37 cases were detected in the regional unit of Kozani

3 cases were detected in the regional unit of Lakonia

110 cases were detected in the regional unit of Larissa

6 cases were detected in the regional unit of Lesvos

1 case was detected in the regional unit of Limnos

45 cases were detected in the regional unit of Magnisia

13 cases were detected in the regional unit of Messinia

1 case was detected in the regional unit of Mykonos

1 case was detected in the regional unit of Naxos

7 cases were detected in the regional unit of Xanthi

122 cases were detected in the regional unit of Pellas

66 cases were detected in the regional unit of Pieria

1 case was detected in the regional unit of Preveza

9 cases were detected in the regional unit of Rethimno

9 cases were detected in the regional unit of Rodopi

10 cases were detected in the regional unit of Rodos

105 cases were detected in the regional unit of Serres

37 cases were detected in the regional unit of Trikala

6 cases were detected in the regional unit of Fthiotida

29 cases were detected in the regional unit of Florina

2 cases were detected in the regional unit of Fokida

10 cases were detected in the regional unit of Chalkidiki

11 cases were detected in the regional unit of Chania

5 cases were detected in the regional unit of Chios

29 cases remain under investigation

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