Greece confirms more coronavirus cases at Moria migrant camp

Greece has recorded an additional nine coronavirus cases at the Moria Reception and Identification Center on the island of Lesvos, a migration ministry official said on Monday.

This brings the total to 17 cases.

It is recalled last week, the first coronavirus case was reported in Greece’s largest migrant camp. The Moria hotspot has been placed under quarantine for two weeks.

The Migration Ministry said the infected man, a 40-year-old Somali, was granted refugee status and a residence permit to live in Greece. He had left the camp on July 17, however he returned in recent days and had been living in a tent outside the camp fence. He is currently isolated in hospital and is in good health.

Migration Minister Notis Mitarachi told Alpha TV that 1,600 tests have so far been conducted in Moria.

Late on Monday, Greek authorities said that three more migrant facilities had been quarantined: the Eleonas camp in Athens, the Malakasa camp just north of Athens and the facility in Schisto, near the port of Pireaus.

Greece recorded 156 new cases of COVID-19 in the latest 24-hour reporting period.

This raises the total number of cases to 11,663.

2,258 are considered to be related to travel from abroad and 5,065 are related to an already known case.

Forty-two individuals are in the ICU, and their median age is 69 years. 90.5% have an underlying condition or are aged 70 and above.

Another 160 have been discharged from ICUs since the start of the pandemic in Greece.

The country’s pandemic death toll stands at 289. The median age of all was 78 years and 96.2% of the deceased had an underlying condition.