On Monday, a total of 1,044 new cases of Covid-19 were diagnosed in Greece, a signal that the transmission of the virus in the country is declining due to the draconian lockdown measures put in place in early November.
Although fewer cases were recorded on Monday, 600 patients are currently intubated in Greek hospitals, and 85 people with the virus died in the country in the last 24-hour period.
Throughout the lockdown, Greece has consistently recorded an increase in daily case numbers, causing concern among officials that Greek citizens were not strictly following the state’s anti-virus measures.
Pediatric epidemiologist Vana Papaevangelou stated in a press conference last week that the case numbers were indeed declining, but not at the rate that had been expected by experts. Monday’s case count may show that the transmission of the virus is beginning to decrease more rapidly now that the country has been in lockdown for nearly a month.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis noted that the situation in northern Greece, which was hit particularly hard by the coronavirus, had begun to improve on Monday.
The hospitals in the region, especially in Thessaloniki, the country’s second largest city, have been under immense strain, often functioning at near capacity, due to the sheer number of Covid patients requiring treatment.
Mitsotakis stated that hospitals in the region are now seeing a decrease in patients, and instances of transmission in northern Greece as a whole have lessened slightly.
Although optimistic, PM Mitsotakis urged all Greek people to remain vigilant until the vaccine is released late this year, stating “no one should doubt that some difficult days still lie ahead.”
Most of the 1,044 new cases diagnosed in Greece on Monday were recorded in Attica, home to the capital city of Athens, where there were 255 new cases, and Thessaloniki, Greece’s second largest city, where 213 cases were found.
In total, 105,271 cases of Covid-19 have been recorded in Greece since the beginning of the pandemic, including all those who have recovered from the virus. Of this total, 4,888 are associated with foreign travel and 28,075 with contact with a known case.
Of the 600 intubated patients, 75.8% are over the age of 70 or suffer from preexisting conditions. Their median age is 65, and 161 of the patients are female. A total of 581 patients have been discharged from ICUs around the country.
The 85 new deaths recorded on Monday bring the total number of fatalities in the country to 2,406. Of all those who lost their lives after suffering with the virus, a total of 978 have been women.
The median age of those who passed away with Covid-19 is 80, and 96.6% of them were over the age of 70 or suffered from underlying health issues.
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