Greece sees jump in ICU patients with covid-19

The head of Greece's National Vaccination Committee, Maria Theodoridou, on Tuesday announced that the online platform for booking vaccination appointments against covid for those who belong in high-risk groups, will open on Friday.

The group, which concerns an estimated 415,000 people, includes patients with transplants, kidney failure, cystic fibrosis, cancer patients, people with chronic respiratory diseases, heart or liver disease, or patients in immunosuppression.

Theodoridou also said that Greek health authorities are continuing the rollout of the AstraZeneca vaccine, which contributes “decisively to the control of the pandemic.”

She said there is no evidence connecting the few incidents of dangerous blood clots in some recipients to the vaccine and warned people not to take anticoagulants before vaccination.

Meanwhile, more than a dozen countries, including Cyprus, have suspended the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine.

Greece is currently expecting delivery of 500,000 doses by AstraZeneca this month and another 450,000 in April.

Latest covid-19 numbers in Greece

Greece recorded 1,533 new cases of COVID-19 in the latest 24-hour reporting period.

This raises the total number of cases to 223,789.

Six hundred and five individuals are in ICU. Their median age is 68 years. 82.1% 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 449 (daily change: -3.25%), while the rolling average of hospital admissions in the last seven days is 455 patients.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, 1,505 patients have been discharged from the ICU.

The country’s pandemic death toll stands at 7,196. 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.

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.