On Monday, a record of 41 people with Covid-19 lost their lives, and a total of 1,490 cases of the virus were diagnosed in the country. There are currently a record 239 intubated patients in intensive care units around Greece.
The rapid increase in the number of intubated patients has led to immense strain on the Greek healthcare system, as only 329 of the country’s 1,063 ICU beds are empty and available for use by Covid-19 patients.
The situation is especially critical in northern Greece, where there are only 31 hospital beds out of a total of 124 available for patients with the coronavirus in the region around the city of Thessaloniki.
In Attica, home to Athens, the country’s capital, 112 of the 160 spots for Covid-19 patients in ICUs are now occupied.
In order to prevent the potentially disastrous situation of completely filled ICUs, the Greek government has hired 300 new doctors to be permanently placed in ICUs, and it plans to make room in military and private hospitals for patients to be treated.
As a last resort, beds from other units of the hospital will be transferred and used for patients suffering with Covid-19.
Of the total 1,490 new cases announced on Monday, 25 were identified during testing at Greece’s points of entry.
In total, 58,187 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, 4,456 are associated with foreign travel and 15,977 with contact with a known case.
Attica, home to Greece’s capital city of Athens, has 390 of Monday’s 1,490 cases, and Thessaloniki, Greece’s second most populous city, has 412 cases.
Of the 239 intubated patients, 87% are over the age of 70 or suffer from preexisting conditions. Their median age is 66, and 59 of the patients are women. A total of 329 patients have been discharged from ICUs around the country.
The 41 new deaths recorded on Monday bring the number of total fatalities in the country to 825. Of those who lost their lives after suffering with the virus, just 335 have been women.
The median age of those who passed away from Covid-19 is 79, and 96.5% of them were over the age of 70 or had underlying health issues.
See all the latest news from Greece and the world at Greekreporter.com. Contact our newsroom to report an update or send your story, photos and videos. Follow GR on Google News and subscribe here to our daily email!
