The number of new Covid-19 infections and intubations in Greece broke a new record on Wednesday, reaching 3,465 and 630, respectively.
The previous high in new cases was recorded on November 12, 2020 with 3,316, and the biggest number of intubated patients was last seen on December 3, with 622.
During the live briefing on Wednesday, Health Minister Vassilis Kikilias appealed to the private sector doctors to help out in the National Health System (ESY), which he said was stretched to the limits.
In total, Greece has 1,400 ICU beds dedicated to Covid, Kikilias said, with 650 beds in ICUs in Attica Region in total. Of these 650 ICU beds, 381 are dedicated to Covid patients. In terms of plain Covid-dedicated beds, Attica Region has 2,961.
"I am optimistic that the end of the crisis is near because the course of vaccinations is the key to this development," he said, adding that immunity would soon be achieved in older people, vulnerable groups and citizens at risk of becoming more seriously ill.
Mr. Kikilias stressed that in April , Greece will exceed 1.5 million vaccinations, not including the number of Johnson & Johnson vaccines that will be determined for our country in the coming days.
In addition, the private sector had contributed beds in clinics: 550 in total, with 450 of them being non-Covid. All beds come with medical and nursing staff.
"We can confirm we are at the toughest point of the pandemic's development, and the ESY is on high emergency mode," the minister said, but insisted that hospitalized coronavirus patients would find a bed in an ICu within 24 hours.
When asked on how the spread of the virus could be otherwise contained, the Health minister said "there is globally no other method discovered except by reduced mobility" and he pointed out that the measures implemented already brought results in reducing the number of deaths.
Greece recorded 3,465 new cases of COVID-19 in the latest 24-hour reporting period.
This raises the total number of cases to 227,247.
Six hundred and thirty individuals are in ICU. Their median age is 68 years. 81.9% 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 406 (daily change: -8.97%), while the rolling average of hospital admissions in the last seven days is 449 patients.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, 1,516 patients have been discharged from the ICU.
The country’s pandemic death toll stands at 7,252. 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.
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.
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.