A total of 494 new cases of Coronavirus were diagnosed in Greece on Sunday, down from 795 that were recorded in the country one day earlier, on Saturday.
Ten of the new cases were found in the entrance gates of the country, namely airports and ports.
The total number of diagnosed cases in Greece now stands at 156,957, 52 percent of whom are men.
Tragically, 17 more people with the virus passed away in the country over the past 24-hour period, which is two individuals more compared to Saturday.
The death toll in Greece now stands at 5,796 individuals.
Currently, 255 patients with COVID-19 are now intubated in Greece, with the number being slightly reduced compared to the previous days.
Their median age is 69 years.
More Regions Added to the ”Red Zone”
New restrictive measures will come into effect from Monday at 06:00 AM local time in many more regions in Greece.
This came as a result of the coronavirus surge in the counties of Lasithi on Crete, and Chalkidiki in Central Macedonia.
Additionally, the island of Zakynthos (Zante) will also move to the ”red zone.”
The new measures being enforced in these areas are the following:
- Curfew from 18:00 until 05:00.
- Lyceums will remain closed and continue their remote learning.
- Limit of up to 9 people in every church or other temple.
- Shops to operate under the ”click away” system, meaning that people will only be able to go and pick up a pre-ordered product.
- All shops to remain closed on Sundays.
Coronavirus Variant from South Africa Found in Thessaloniki
Earlier on Sunday, it was made public that the new South African COVID-19 variant has been found in Thessaloniki, Greece.
Up until now, Greece had only reported the variant originally found in the United Kingdom.
Greece has recorded a total of 66 positive cases of this variant. The UK variant is more infectious and possibly more lethal. However, the South African variant is believed to be even more transmissible than the British one.
The entire world is very concerned about this new variant. The reason is that it could possibly evade the currently-produced COVID vaccines.
On January 4, British newspaper The Telegraph said that Oxford immunologist Sir John Bell believed there was “a big question mark” over the new South African variant’s potential resistance to COVID-19 vaccines.
This raised fears that the vaccines that are being distributed across the world might not work as effectively on that variant strain.
In Europe, the new variant has already been reported in the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Switzerland, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Austria, Ireland, the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, Spain, Denmark, and Portugal.
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