Greek authorities have announced the implementation of restrictive measures for the island of Lesvos, in a bid to control the spread of Covid-19.
The measures which were announced on Sunday by the Civil Protection Deputy Minister Nikos Hardalias and the Secretary-General of Civil Protection, Vassilios Papageorgiou include the following:
- A ban on the operation of restaurants, nightclubs and entertainment from midnight until 7 the next morning
- A maximum of 50 people for all public and social events and gatherings, (except for venues such as restaurants, theatres and cinemas, with particular rules)
- Permission to employers to suspend work contracts
The measures will go into effect as of 6am Monday August 24, until 6am Tuesday September 1.
These restrictions are also currently in effect in the following regions: Crete, Eastern Macedonia & Thrace, Attica, Thessaloniki, Larissa, Corfu, Karditsa, Pella, Pieria and the municipalities of Santorini, Volos, Katerini, Rhodes, Zakynthos and Kos.
Greece recorded 284 new cases of COVID-19 in the latest 24-hour reporting period.
This raises the total number of cases to 8,664.
1,852 are considered to be related to travel from abroad and 3,940 are related to an already known case.
Thirty-one individuals are in the ICU, and their median age is 67 years.
Another 143 have been discharged from ICUs since the start of the pandemic in Greece.
The country’s pandemic death toll stands at 242. The median age of all was 77 years and 94.6% of the deceased had an underlying condition.
"It is not only up to the state or the individual responsibility to deal with the health crisis. It is, first and foremost, a social and collective responsibility. By taking our share, we protect our health and strengthen our democracy," President of the Republic Katerina Sakellaropoulou posted on Sunday.
"Our country is facing, like almost the entire planet, the resurgence of the coronavirus pandemic. But it is not unfortified. The successful management of the first wave led to low endemicity of the virus, which gave us time. The national health system is better prepared and we have more information about the disease. The unprecedented synergy and progress of the global scientific community is bringing the vaccine closer. Time and knowledge are on our side," she stressed on her Facebook post.
"The virus, however, is still here and the increase in cases threatens to destroy what we have achieved over the last months, having made great sacrifices in our social and economic life and shown exemplary behavior. The fatigue is understandable, after the strict restrictive measures, and the relaxation that occurred, especially among the young people, due to the summer, was expected. We must not, however, let fatigue and doubt blur our judgment and attitude towards the virus. We do not have the luxury of turning a blind eye to reality, nor can we ignore the scientists who sound the alarm globally," Sakellaropoulou added.
https://www.facebook.com/KateSakellaropoulou/posts/172705834352391
