Update – 26/10/2020

As of the latest update by the Greek authorities on Sunday, the total number of confirmed Covid-19 diagnosed cases in Greece is 30,782. 10 new deaths were reported raising the total number to 574. The number of patients treated in intensive care units stands at 84. 790 new cases were announced yesterday in Greece, dropping the daily number below 700. 227 of the new cases were found in the Attica region.

A record-breaking 935 cases of Covid-19 were diagnosed in the country on Saturday, and 5 deaths were recorded in those who had suffered with the virus. This is the highest number of Covid-19 cases recorded in Greece in a one-day period since the start of the pandemic. The previous record was 882. The record for the highest number of coronavirus cases diagnosed in a 24-hour period in Greece has been broken four times in October alone.

One the first nights of the curfew in Greece authorities conducted thousands of control checks and fines fell like raindrops on the heads – better say: the pockets – of those who violated the measure and entertained themselves in bars and other facilities like every other Saturday night before the coronavirus pandemic. 26,521 control checks were carried out in Attica alone, a region, home for almost 5 million people, while the number of inspection checks across the country reached 49,745. Violations referred to the measure of the non-use of masks which is mandatory in- and outdoors in 18 regional units and the night curfew from 0:30 until 5:00 a.m. On a entertainment facility in Liosa suburb of western Athens, control authorities located 146 customers in a bar that ought to be closed. 150 euro fines were imposed to each one of the customers, plus 5,000 to the bar owner plus a 3-day operation suspension. The manager was arrested. In another in Peristeri, also in western Athens, the first control check took place just 5 minutes after the midnight when all catering facilities should be closed. The bar was still open; a 5,000-euro-fine was imposed and the operation was suspended for 3 days. A second control check at 01:40 am showed that the bar had opened despite the first fine and 108 customers were allowed inside through the back door. Each customer was fined with 150 euros, the fine for the owner was again 5,000, the suspension increased to 20 days. Other inspections in Piraeus and other Athens suburbs found several bars and coffee bars operating beyond the scheduled hours. There were 543 violations of the new measures in Attica on Saturday night.

The course of the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic will depend, to a large degree, on the behavior of young people, health experts are saying. Indicatively, one in 10 cases confirmed last week concerned people up to 17 years old, while one in two were aged between 18 and 39. The average age of active cases across the country halfway through the previous week, meanwhile, was 37 years old. In Attica it was 33 and in Thessaloniki just 28. According to data from the National Organization for Public Health (EODY), of the 3,495 new cases diagnosed in the October 17-22 period, 321 (9.2%) concerned people under the age of 17, 1,636 (46, 8%) were aged 18-39, 1,214 (34.7%) were 40-64 and 324 (9.2%) were aged 65 years old or above. During the first wave of the epidemic, more than six out of ten cases (62%) involved people over the age of 40. This changed in the summer due to the greater exposure of young people to the virus during their holidays. 

After Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis heralded new restrictions to curb a sharp spike in coronavirus infections, the latest figures indicate that the upward trend shows no signs of abating, with epidemiologists warning of an “aggressive” increase in northern Greece, while cases are up 40 percent in Attica since last week. Health authorities are regularly reviewing a map that categorizes the country’s regions according to the level of transmission of the virus to ensure that restrictions are strict enough to contain further outbreaks without stifling economic and social activity. 

Police intervened on Friday night to break up large groups of people who had gathered at the front of a church in the centre of Thessaloniki, in northern Greece, disregarding a ban on public gatherings due to the pandemic. Officers in car patrols who arrived at the church of Aghia Sophia shortly after 1 a.m. warned citizens through loudspeakers against overcrowding. Officers remained in the area until it was eventually emptied.

Regarding yesterday’s 790 cases:

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

4 imported cases that took the test voluntarily

227 cases were detected in the regional unit of Attica

181 cases were detected in the regional unit of Thessaloniki

1 case was detected in the regional unit of Aitoloakarnania

3 cases were detected in the regional unit of Argolida

6 cases were detected in the regional unit of Achaia

2 cases were detected in the regional unit of Grevena

13 cases were detected in the regional unit of Drama

19 cases were detected in the regional unit of Evros

6 cases were detected in the regional unit of Evoia

1 case was detected in the regional unit of Zakinthos

1 case was detected in the regional unit of Ilia

4 case was detected in the regional unit of Imathia

11 cases were detected in the regional unit of Iraklio

1 case was detected in the regional unit of Thira

36 cases were detected in the regional unit of Ioannina

5 cases were detected in the regional unit of Kavala

1 case was detected in the regional unit of Karditsa

5 cases were detected in the regional unit of Kastoria

2 cases were detected in the regional unit of Kerkyra

9 cases were detected in the regional unit of Kilkis

15 cases were detected in the regional unit of Kozani

7 cases were detected in the regional unit of Korinthia

32 cases were detected in the regional unit of Larissa

1 case was detected in the regional unit of Lesvos

7 cases were detected in the regional unit of Magnisia

2 cases were detected in the regional unit of Mesinia

1 case was detected in the regional unit of Mykonos

3 cases were detected in the regional unit of Naxos

11 cases were detected in the regional unit of Xanthi

12 cases were detected in the regional unit of Pellas

14 cases were detected in the regional unit of Pieria

2 cases were detected in the regional unit of Preveza

24 cases were detected in the regional unit of Rodopi

2 cases were detected in the regional unit of Rodos

49 cases were detected in the regional unit of Serres

1 case was detected in the regional unit of Siros

4 cases were detected in the regional unit of Trikala

1 case was detected in the regional unit of Fthiotida

2 cases were detected in the regional unit of Florina

7 cases were detected in the regional unit of Chalkidiki

1 case was detected in the regional unit of Chania

3 cases were detected in the regional unit of Chios

22 cases remain under investigation

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