Greek students successfully repatriated from Italy by ferry

The Greek government successfully repatriated 250 Greek nationals from Italy on Sunday, the majority of which were university students.

In a joint operation carried out by the Greek Foreign Ministry, the Greek embassy in Rome and the Greek Shipping Ministry and civil protection authorities, a ferry carrying Greek university students and professionals from several Italian cities arrived at Igoumenitsa port, western Greece, at 15:00 on Sunday before heading on to Patras.

According to government sources, the port was under stringent measures for preventative reasons and only close relatives were allowed to enter the docking area. Most of those waiting anxiously were parents who had come from central and northern Greece destinations to pick up the students evacuated from Italy, where the coronavirus epidemic is raging.

Greek authorities have asked Greeks evacuated from abroad to keep a self-imposed 14-day quarantine.