Update – 31/03/2021
March 31, 2021
Who we are
Action Digital is a full-service digital agency based in Cyprus offering services in web
As of the latest update by the Greek authorities, the total number of confirmed Covid-19 diagnosed cases in Greece is 260,077. 72 new deaths were reported raising the total number to 8,017. The number of patients treated in intensive care units is currently 741. 4,340 new cases were announced yesterday in Greece. 2,097 of the new cases were found in the Attica region and 535 new cases in the Thessaloniki region.
Greece identified a total of 4,340 cases of the coronavirus on Tuesday, the highest number ever recorded in a single day in the country since the beginning of the outbreak. The current figure marks 2,616 more cases of Covid-19 than the 1,724 cases diagnosed in Greece on Monday.
Additionally, a record number of patients with Covid-19 in Greece are on ventilators on Tuesday. The total number of people undergoing the intensive and invasive treatment, which involves placing a tube down a patient’s throat to assist breathing, has reached 741 in Greece.
Tuesday’s figure breaks the previous record of 738, which was recorded just yesterday, on Monday.
Greek police revealed on Tuesday that on Monday alone they had made nine arrests and handed out nearly one thousand fines to those breaking the country’s Covid-19 restrictions. In a press release, the Greek police stated that 930 people were slapped with the 300-euro fines for unauthorized movement on Monday. Of those who violated the country’ lockdown rules, the great majority were in Attica, where 149 fines were given out, and in Thessaloniki and northern Greece, with 148 fines.
In addition to the 930 fines given for improper movement, 178 people were written up for either not wearing a mask or wearing it improperly, which also carries a fine of 300 euros. The nine arrests made on Monday were related to the illegal operation of businesses, or of hosting large gatherings and parties, both of which come with a whopping fine of 5,000 and 3,000 euros, respectively.
Yet more disturbing statistics came to light on Tuesday as Greek health officials stated that the majority of intubated coronavirus patients are aged from 35-50 — and dozens of people are now waiting outside ICUs.
Matina Pagoni, the president of the Athens and Piraeus hospital doctors’ association (EINAP), said that seventy percent of the patients currently being treated for Covid-19 in hospitals around Greece are quite young, under 50 years of age. Speaking in an interview on Skai TV, Pagoni stated that “it is tragic” to have to intubate people who are from 35 to 50 years of age and who do not suffer from any underlying health problems whatsoever.
The health official said that the increase in coronavirus cases — which reached yet another record on Tuesday — was due to the swift spread of the variants which have an increased transmissibility of 40-60% among younger people. Parliamentary parties were briefed by Health Minister Vassilis Kikilias on Tuesday about the state of the ICU capacities at Greek hospitals. He was joined by Maria Theodoridou, head of the National Vaccination Committee, and infectious diseases professor Sotiris Tsiodras, who also briefed the parties.
According to Kikilias, there are currently a total of 1,483 beds operating in ICUs nationally – 1,222 at National Health System (ESY) hospitals, 220 at private clinics, and 41 at military hospitals. Of these, 891 are in ICUs dedicated to Covid-19 patients exclusively, and 592 are operating in non-Covid-19 ICUs.
Nearly half of the total, or 729 ICU beds, are located in the Attica region: 427 in Covid-dedicated ICUs, and 302 in non-Covid units.
The private sector in the Attica region has turned over to the ESY 174 of the 233 ICU beds it has. In other words, the Health Minister said, 3 out of 4 ICU beds in Attica’s private sector are already made available to the ESY.
Of the remainder 59 ICU beds the private sector has kept in Attica, 56 are already occupied by patients.
Also on Monday, doctors from Greece’s public hospital system admitted to interviewers from Real FM that over 120 patients in Athens hospitals were waiting outside ICUs because there was no space available.
As many as 126 Covid-19 patients were connected to portable ventilators in ordinary hospital wards, waiting for days for an open ICU bed for them, they said.
Meanwhile, epidemiologists are warning that the number of intubated individuals in Greece could reach 1,000 during the next two weeks. Intubation is an especially invasive procedure in which a tube is inserted down one’s throat and a machine breathes for the patient.
All normal breathing is ceased as long as the patient is on a ventilator, and when the tube is taken out after successful treatment, the patient must “learn” to breathe normally, in their usual rhythm, once again.
Health Minister Kikilias admitted that the pressure on the national health system remains high.
In more detail, the 4,340 new cases detected per Regional Unit:
