The Greeks will only be able to go to 'essential shops' (photo: F.Dubessy)
GREECE. After France, Spain, Portugal and Italy, it is Greece's turn to opt for reconfinement in order to limit the spread of Covid-19. Kyriakos Mitsotakis indicated, on Thursday 5 November 2020, that it would begin on Saturday 7 November 2020 from 18:00 (local time) for an expected duration of three weeks.
The Greek Prime Minister said he had taken "a difficult decision" but that he intended to "defeat the second wave". Athens and Thessaloniki had already been in partial confinement for two days.
The population will now only be able to go to "essential shops", as he calls them. Supermarkets, pharmacies, nursery and secondary schools will remain open. In order to leave their homes, Greeks will have to give the reason and the time by text message and wait for authorisation by the same means.
According to the CSSE of Johns Hopkins University, Greece, a country of 10.7 million inhabitants, is still little affected by Covid-19 with only 46,892 confirmed cases since the start of the pandemic and 673 deaths. However, the authorities have instituted a re-confinement, as the number of hospitalisations under intubation has doubled in one month, going from eighty-two to 169 on Wednesday 4 November 2020. "Covid-19 beds in Thessaloniki are 78% occupied and in the Athens region 66% occupied," said Sotiris Tsiodras, spokesman for the Greek Ministry of Health. According to Kyriakos Mitsotakis, "if we continue at this rate, in ten days time we will have more than 1,000 people in hospital".
The Greek Prime Minister said he had taken "a difficult decision" but that he intended to "defeat the second wave". Athens and Thessaloniki had already been in partial confinement for two days.
The population will now only be able to go to "essential shops", as he calls them. Supermarkets, pharmacies, nursery and secondary schools will remain open. In order to leave their homes, Greeks will have to give the reason and the time by text message and wait for authorisation by the same means.
According to the CSSE of Johns Hopkins University, Greece, a country of 10.7 million inhabitants, is still little affected by Covid-19 with only 46,892 confirmed cases since the start of the pandemic and 673 deaths. However, the authorities have instituted a re-confinement, as the number of hospitalisations under intubation has doubled in one month, going from eighty-two to 169 on Wednesday 4 November 2020. "Covid-19 beds in Thessaloniki are 78% occupied and in the Athens region 66% occupied," said Sotiris Tsiodras, spokesman for the Greek Ministry of Health. According to Kyriakos Mitsotakis, "if we continue at this rate, in ten days time we will have more than 1,000 people in hospital".
