Saturday marked a dark day for Greece in terms of the coronavirus pandemic. A record number of patients with Covid-19 in Greece are on ventilators, and the country recorded its highest number of deaths amongst people with the virus this year on Saturday.
The total number of people undergoing the intensive treatment, which involves placing a tube in the patient’s throat to assist breathing, has reached 728, breaking the previous record of 707, which was recorded just yesterday, on Friday.
Tragically, 72 people with the coronavirus passed away in the country over the past 24-hour period, which is 19 more than those who died with the virus on Friday.
Greece identified a total of 3,133 Covid-19 cases in the country on Saturday, 1,637 more than the 1,496 cases diagnosed in Greece on Friday.
Greek PM: All Greeks over 60 will be vaccinated by early May
While touring a newly-created, massive vaccination center in the Athenian neighborhood of Peristeri, Greek PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis affirmed that the country’s vaccination campaign is progressing well.
Mitsotakis announced Saturday that all Greeks over the age of 60, as well as all those suffering from serious underlying conditions, regardless of age, would be vaccinated by early May.
The Greek PM asserted that the vaccine will be the essential in “taking our lives back into our own hands” after months of strict lockdowns and coronavirus restrictions in the country.
By the end of March, Mitsotakis stated, the country will have distributed a total of 1,700,000 doses of the coronavirus vaccine.
1,510 cases of Covid-19 diagnosed Attica alone; 358 in Thessaloniki
Of the 3,133 coronavirus cases recorded in Greece in the past 24 hours, 1,510 were located in Attica, home to the Greek capital city of Athens.
Instances of the virus were particularly high in the center of the city itself, where 398 cases of Covid-19 were identified Saturday.
Piraeus, Athens’ port city, had a total of 280 instances of the virus on Saturday.
Tests showed that in Thessaloniki, Greece’s second-largest city, a total of 358 cases of Covid-19 had been diagnosed in the last 24 hours.
Total 252,590 coronavirus cases in Greece since the start of the pandemic
Since the beginning of the pandemic, a total of 252,590 cases of Covid-19 have been recorded in the country, including all those who have recovered from the virus.
Of the cases diagnosed in Greece in the past seven days, just 60 are associated with foreign travel and 2,545 have been linked to contact with a known case.
Of the 728 patients intubated currently, 82.4% are over the age of 70 or suffer from preexisting conditions. Their average age is 68.
On Saturday alone, 371 people with the coronavirus were admitted to hospitals in Greece.
Additionally, a total of 1,656 patients have been discharged from ICUs around the country since the beginning of the pandemic.
The 72 new deaths recorded on Saturday bring the total number of fatalities in the country to 7,826, and 95.7% of those who have passed away with the virus were over the age of 70 or suffered from underlying health issues.
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