Nearly 500 Patients Intubated in Greece Thursday as Officials Warn of Extended Lockdown

A record-breaking 499 Covid-19 patients are now intubated in Greece and 59 people suffering from the virus died on Thursday. A total of 3,227 cases of the coronavirus were diagnosed in Greece over the last 24 hours.
The 499 patients with Covid-19 who are currently intubated in Greece broke the country’s record of 480, which was announced just yesterday, Wednesday.
The increased number of cases and intubations recorded throughout November has caused anxiety among Greeks, who anticipate that the state will announce an extension of the current nationwide lockdown, now in its 12th day.
It had been previously announced that the lockdown would end on December 1st.
Greek government spokesman Stelios Petsas expressed that such a move is not off the table during his daily briefing on Thursday.
Citing high infection rates in many northern Greek cities despite the national lockdown, Petsas warned the country that current anti-virus measures could be extended or strengthened if the case numbers do not decrease.
Petsas argued that current epidemiological trends show that many Greeks are not strictly adhering to the national lockdown and other anti-virus measures, since the case numbers have remained high — and even increased in some areas of the country.
Of the 3,227 new cases announced in the country on Thursday, just eleven were identified during testing at Greece’s points of entry.
The majority of cases recorded in Greece on Thursday were diagnosed in the areas surrounding Greece’s two largest urban centers, Athens and Thessaloniki. A total of 774 cases were recorded in Thessaloniki, the second largest city in Greece, and 646 in Attica, home to the capital city of Athens.
In total, 85,261 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, 4,725 are associated with foreign travel and 21,605 with contact with a known case.
Of the 499 intubated patients, 81.6% are over the age of 70 or suffer from preexisting conditions. Their median age is 65, and 153 of the patients are women. A total of 427 patients have been discharged from ICUs around the country.
The 59 new deaths recorded on Thursday bring the total number of fatalities in the country to 1,347. Of all those who lost their lives after suffering with the virus, a total of 547 have been women.
The median age of those who passed away with Covid-19 is 80, and 97.2% of them were over the age of 70 or suffered from underlying health issues.