Greece set to extend lockdown as covid cases soar

Greece's lockdown could be extended beyond the end of the month, as Covid-19 infections and hospital admissions continue to rise.

"All the burden at the moment is on the Ministry of Health, the health workers and the citizens who need to understand what is happening. If it weren't for all these measures, we might have gotten worse. The pandemic is a difficult situation to control. If we did not have these measures, we might have had more cases," said Charalambos Gogos, Professor of Infectious Diseases and Pathology at the University of Patras.

"The spread is very large, the virus is threatening and new strains have prevailed. The weather also favours the virus (...)I believe that the situation will gradually improve," he added.

Regarding lifting lockdown measures, he stressed that "the curve must start to fall down, in order for us to make such thoughts."

Latest covid-19 numbers in Greece

Greece recorded 2,570 new cases of COVID-19 in the latest 24-hour reporting period.

This raises the total number of cases to 214,661.

Five hundred and six individuals are in ICU. Their median age is 67 years. 83.6% have an underlying condition or are aged 70 years and above.

The number of new Covid-19 patients in hospitals in the last 24 hours is 501 (daily change: +13.09%), while the rolling average of hospital admissions in the last seven days is 408 patients.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, 1,457 patients have been discharged from the ICU.

The country’s pandemic death toll stands at 6,937. The median age of all was 79 years and 95.8% of the deceased had an underlying condition and/or age of 70 years or more.

From January 1, 2020 to the present, laboratories that report the total of samples tested have carried out 3,873,938 tests.

SMS 13033 for movement during lockdown

All individuals residing in Greece will be required to send an SMS text message to 13033 in order to obtain permission to leave their homes during the lockdown.

The SMS to 13033 should be formatted as follows: X (one of the digits 1-6 corresponding to the activities below), name, surname and address.

The six reasons (you must SMS) are:

1. Visit to a pharmacy or visit to a doctor if necessary
2. Visit to a supermarket or stores for essential supplies
3. Visit to a bank if e-banking transactions are not possible
4. Visit to people needing assistance or escorting children to and from school
5. Attending a funeral, as per the conditions provided by the law, or visiting children in case of divorced parents
6. Physical exercise outdoors or up to two persons taking their pet for a walk while always observing a 1.5-metre distance.

2-km radius

Individuals are not allowed to travel beyond 2 kilometres of their home to visit supermarkets, food stores and other essential goods shops or to go to the bank.

Similarly, personal exercise or pet walking must be carried out close to one’s home.

*More on GCT: Greece gives green light for over 65s to receive AstraZeneca vaccine