COVID-19 pandemic in Greece
Map of the COVID-19 outbreak in Greece as of 31 March 2020.
  Confirmed 1—4
  Confirmed 5—9
  Confirmed 10—49
  Confirmed 50—99
  Confirmed 100—199
  Confirmed ≥200
DiseaseCOVID-19
Virus strainSARS-CoV-2
LocationGreece
First outbreakWuhan, Hubei, China
Index caseThessaloniki
Arrival date26 February 2020
(4 years, 4 months, 3 weeks and 3 days)
DateAs of 13 May 2020
Confirmed cases2,760
Recovered1,374
Deaths
155
Government website
covid19.gov.gr/covid19-live-analytics/

The COVID-19 pandemic first appeared in Greece on 26 February 2020. As of 13 May 2020, there have been 2,760 confirmed cases and 155 deaths.[1]

Cases

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The first COVID-19 case, a 38-year-old woman from Thessaloniki who had recently visited Νorthern Italy, was confirmed. Later cases in late February and early March related to people who had traveled to Italy, Israel and Egypt. The first death from COVID-19 in Greece was a 66-year-old man, who died on 12 March.

Response

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Following the first three cases in Greece, on 27 February all carnival events in the country were cancelled. Later, the closure of schools and the suspension of cultural events in the affected areas (particularly Ilia, Achaea and Zakynthos) were announced.

On 10 March, with 89 confirmed cases and no deaths in the country, the government decided to close down all schools for good and on 13 March, to close down all cafes, bars, museums, shopping centres, sports facilities and restaurants in the country.

On 16 March, all retail shops were also closed, two villages in Kozani were quarantined, and all services in all churches were suspended. On 18 and 19 March, the government announced a series of measures of more than 10 billion euros to support the economy, businesses and employees.

On 4 April these restrictions were extended until 27 April and on 23 April they were extended until 4 May.[3]

The measures put in place in Greece were among the most strictest in Europe and were praised internationally for having slowed the spread of the disease and having kept the number of deaths among the lowest in Europe.[4][5][6][7][8][9][10]

Starting from 4 May, Greece began easing restrictions after a 42-day lockdown, with the gradual lifting of restrictions on movement and the restarting of business activity.

References

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  1. ↑ "Ανακοίνωση για την εξέλιξη της νόσου COVID-19 στη χώρα μας (13/5/2020)". Εθνικός Οργανισμός Δημόσιας Υγείας (in Greek). 2020-05-13. Retrieved 2020-05-13.
  2. ↑ "EODY reports 52 new cases of Covid-19 in Corfu today — 31 October". Enimerosi. 31 October 2021. Archived from the original on 4 November 2021. Retrieved 15 November 2021.
  3. ↑ "Παρατείνονται τα περιοριστικά μέτρα μέχρι τις 4 Μαΐου – Τι θα ισχύσει με την αποστολή SMS" (in Greek). 2020-04-24. Retrieved 2020-04-24.
  4. ↑ Tugwell, Paul; Nikas, Sotiris (2020-04-16). "Humbled Greeks Show the World How to Handle the Virus Outbreak". www.bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2020-04-30.
  5. ↑ Giugliano, Ferdinando (10 April 2020). "Greece Shows How to Handle the Crisis". Bloomberg.com.
  6. ↑ Stevis-Gridneff, Matina (5 April 2020). "The Rising Heroes of the Coronavirus Era? Nations' Top Scientists" – via NYTimes.com.
  7. ↑ Kefalas, Alexia (20 March 2020). "L'infectiologue Sotirios Tsiodras, nouvelle coqueluche des Grecs". Le Figaro.fr (in French).
  8. ↑ "Stocks Rally Suggests Turning Point In Coronavirus Fight". Bloomberg.com. 7 April 2020. Retrieved 2020-04-07.
  9. ↑ Athens, Anthee Carassava. "Greeks rein in rebellious streak as draconian measures earn them a reprieve" – via www.thetimes.co.uk.
  10. ↑ "Greek Doctor in Birmingham: Greece is exemplar, Britain in worse position than Italy (Original: Ελληνας γιατρός στο Μπέρμιγχαμ: Πρότυπο η Ελλάδα, η Βρετανία σε χειρότερη θέση από την Ιταλία)". Έθνος (in Greek). 24 March 2020.
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