With the coronavirus continuing to spread to many parts of Greece with cases increasing, Sputnik Hellas presents the areas where from the beginning of the pandemic until today not a single case has been recorded!
Since February 26, when the first patient with coronavirus was diagnosed in Greece, specifically in Thessaloniki, many areas have turned "red" due to the many cases that are recorded.
According to yesterday's data announced by by the Greek Health Ministry, the total number of cases in Greece is 20,142 people while 420 of our fellow citizens have lost their lives.
In the first case of the pandemic, the country avoided the worst due to the lockdown, while then, the opening of tourism and the relaxation of Greeks, as many experts have pointed out, led to an increase in cases.
Areas such as Thessaloniki, Athens recently, Halkidiki, Poros, Pella etc. had increased cases while authorities applied additional protection measures by banning rallies, public markets, closing stores at midnight, mandatory use of a mask, etc.
And although COVID-19 seems to have swept across the country from one end to the other, there are areas - even islands - that since the beginning of the pandemic - until today when the article is published - have not had a single case!
The COVID-free areas
According to data gathered by Sputnik from sources in the General Secretariat for Civil Protection, which collects all cases per region on a daily basis, there are indeed areas in which not a single coronavirus case has occurred since the beginning of the pandemic.
The list includes villages in mountainous areas and hat are sparsely populated.
It also includes areas that are difficult to monitor on whether residents are observing the security measures and the distances to the places where they are gathered, such as cafes, as well as islands that some of them are tourist destinations .
The mountain areas that are COVID-free are:
Deskati of Grevena
Thermo of Etoloakarnania
Central Tzoumerka
And:
Konitsa
Peacock
Prespes
Gortynia
The islands that have not recorded a case of coronavirus are:
Amorgos
Astypalea
But also:
Anafi
Bakeries of Ikaria
Kimolo
The explanation for this phenomenon is rather difficult and certainly needs special supervision by experts in order to be analyzed.
The Genetics professor at the Medical School of Geneva University, Manolis Dermitzakis, speaking to Sputnik Hellas believes that one explanation is that many of the sites can be isolated.
"Many can be attributed to the fact that some areas do not have cases. Like that they are isolated and therefore do not have many contacts or that they may have passed the virus and did not understand it, said Dermitzakis.
"There can be many reasons and it depends on how big these areas are," continued Dermitzakis, adding that in order for someone to say with certainty the causes of the non-appearance of the coronavirus, a systematic research should be done.
"It is difficult to say because these areas have no cases and should be investigated systematically," the doctor said.
"For example, there were no cases of people living in these areas, but were there people who went to these areas and then were diagnosed positive?" concluded the doctor in speaking about coronavirus.
