Greece announced on Saturday 2,301 new cases of coronavirus and 41 fatalities in the past 24 hours.
Greece’s total number of confirmed coronavirus cases is now 203,978, with 6,705 dead.
A total of 452 patients remain intubated in intensive care units while 1,403 have left ICU.
Health officials are alarmed at not only the increasing rate of transmission in Greece, but also the number of people with the virus who require intubation.
Saturday’s tally marks the highest amount of intubated patients in the country since early January.
The influx of patients undergoing the intensive treatment, which involves placing a tube down a person’s throat to assist in breathing, has put immense pressure on the country’s hospitals and has left very few hospital beds available for others.
Two more areas enter coronavirus red-alert
The region of Fokida and the municipality of Anogia (Rethymno, Crete) will enter red-alert status as of Saturday, as per the government’s announcements on Friday.
The viral load of the novel coronavirus has risen in several regions and municipalities in Greece.
In particular the regions of Kozani (especially Eordea and Kozani), Kastoria, Ioannina, Kavala, Imathia (esp. Alexandria), Serres, Kilkis, Zakynthos, Chania and Rethimno.
The weekly and biweekly averages of infections per 100,000 inhabitants are approaching alarming proportions there.
In addition, Larissa’s region will no longer be under high-alert status as of 06:00 on Saturday, to facilitate recovery from the earthquake activity there earlier in the week.
Mitsotakis calls for speedy delivery of coronavirus vaccines
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Friday that the European Commission must pressure all pharmaceutical companies to “meet their schedules for the delivery of vaccine doses in the second quarter of 2021, when it is anticipated that there will be a significant increase in the rate of vaccinations.”
He made his remarks during a meeting with Commission Vice President Margaritis Schinas to discuss inoculations, the vaccination certificate as well as the new migration and asylum pact.
“Yesterday (Thursday) we exceeded the milestone of 1 million doses. Greece is moving proportionally faster than many European countries,” Mistotakis said.
He added that the question now is how to expedite the process “so that we can build the wall of immunity which will allow us to return to normalcy.”
He also thanked the Commission for embracing the idea of the vaccination certificate to facilitate free movement within the European Union.
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