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Update – 24/06/2020

As of the latest update by the Greek authorities yesterday, the total number of confirmed Covid-19 diagnosed cases in Greece is 3,302. The death toll from Covid-19 remains 190, with no fatalities recorded in the past 24 hours. The number of patients treated in intensive care units stands at 8, while 118 patients have left the intensive care unit.

HEALTH

  • The National Health Organization (EODY) on Tuesday launched the country’s first drive-through center for Covid-19 diagnostic tests on the outskirts of Xanthi, northern Greece, where there has been a spike in infections. The center, which is located at the 3rd kilometer of the Xanthi-Kavala national highway, will be staffed with health workers who will take swabs from citizens without them having to get out of their cars.
  • The Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) will pay a bonus totalling 6.9 million euros to doctors, nurses and cleaning staff working in Greece’s Covid-19 referral hospitals, as a sign of appreciation for their work during the pandemic, the foundation announced on Tuesday. SNF will provide financial support in the form of an equal honorarium to all employees of ICUs and high-dependency units, as well as of the Covid-19 treatment clinics at the forty COVID-19 referral hospitals throughout Greece.

TOURISM

  • As Greek tourism starts to get back on its feet, Hilton Athens has announced it is opening its doors to guests again next Wednesday, July 1, implementing all security and hygiene protocols. The landmark hotel said it is applying the new global program “Hilton CleanStay,” cleaning and disinfecting all areas, in cooperation with Dettol producer Reckitt Benckiser and Mayo Clinic. Hilton CleanStay provides for special cleaning products and upgraded disinfection protocols, while staff will be specially trained to serve guests and guide them when required so that they can feel safe in the Hilton environment, the hotel stated.
  • The Greek health and tourism ministries are calling for Greece’s hotels to keep rooms available for the isolation of guests with confirmed Covid-19 cases, whose clinical condition does not require hospital care. According to an announcement by the tourism ministry on Tuesday, this “temporary solution” will complement the creation of a network of quarantine hotels in Greece and allow the safe opening of Greek tourism. Hotels will be required to have isolation rooms available until quarantine hotels – for the temporary stay of coronavirus-infected tourists – are established in Greek destinations.

The government’s announced anti-Covid-19 plan says that there should be one quarantine hotel operating in every Greek region and on islands in order for confirmed Covid-19 cases to be isolated. A joint ministerial decision signed by Tourism Minister and Health Minister states that hotels with up to 10 rooms require one isolation room; hotels with up to 50 rooms require two isolation rooms; and hotels with over 50 rooms require as many isolation rooms are equal to 3 percent of the total room capacity of the hotels in question. Greece has said that it would cover the cost of treatment for tourists who test positive for Covid-19 during their visit.

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