The Greek government has mandated nationwide the wearing of face masks in all enclosed places of work and open-air public areas where there is crowding.
The announcement was made by Deputy Civil Protection Minister Nikos Hardalias, who added that the measure applies throughout the whole country irrespective of local coronavirus transmission levels.
Violating the new measure carries a €150 fine.
Addressing the same briefing, Gkikas Magiorkinis, an assistant professor of epidemiology at Athens University, said that October would be a difficult month due to dropping temperatures which might lead to a spike in cases. “If we stay at this level, we’re alright,” he said.
Greece recorded 436 new cases of COVID-19 in the latest 24-hour reporting period, the largest daily spike since the first case was registered in the country in late February.
This raises the total number of cases to 23,495.
3,404 are considered to be related to travel from abroad and 9,525 are related to an already known case.
Eighty-six individuals are in ICU. Their median age is 68 years, and 22 of them are women. 93% have an underlying condition or are aged 70 years and above.
A total of 245 patients have been discharged from ICUs since the start of the pandemic in Greece.
The country’s pandemic death toll stands at 469. The median age of all was 79 years and 96.6% of the deceased had an underlying condition and/or age of 70 years or more.
