Greece Records 43 New Coronavirus Deaths, Downward Trend Continues

The authorities of Greece confirmed on Saturday a total of 43 new coronavirus deaths in the last 24 hours, bringing the total of the pandemic death toll in the country to 11,365.

Additionally, the Greek National Public Health Organization EODY announced that 1,957 new coronavirus infections had been reported in the last twenty-four-hour period.

This is a fairly major decrease from the 2,188 people who had been diagnosed on Friday. Since the pandemic began, Greece has confirmed a total of 375.831 infections.

The EODY announced today that there had been approximately 60,000 tests conducted around the nation of Greece in the past day.

95.2 percent of those who have died in Greece with the COVID-19 infection suffered from an underlying condition and/or were aged 70 or above.

A total of 661 coronavirus patients are now on ventilators in hospitals, down from a total of 677 on Friday and 707 the day prior. Their median age is 67 years and approximately 83 percent suffer from an underlying condition and/or are aged 70 or over. Sixty-two percent of these patients are male.

On a positive note, a total of 2,272 people have been discharged from ICUs in Greece since the pandemic began.

Greece Lifts All Major Coronavirus Restrictions

Greece finally reopened to the world on Friday, and tourism officials state they are expecting to double the number of tourists — and revenues — over last year when the pandemic gutted this vital sector of the economy.

Tens –if not hundreds- of thousands of Greeks rushed to the ports and highways of the country to escape to the islands and the countryside on Friday, marking the first ”weekend of freedom” in more than six months.

The same happened to the country’s high streets, with thousands rushing to the shops to buy clothes or other goods in person instead of using online services.

Tourism Under the shadow of the Coronavirus pandemic

Greece’s tourism sector accounts for about one-fifth of its economy directly– and undoubtedly much more indirectly.

The Greek island of Mykonos saw the first air arrivals from central Europe on Thursday as the islands opened up to foreign tourists who were either completely vaccinated, tested negative for the virus, or could show that they had antibodies against it.

Last year, with a patchwork of coronavirus lockdowns all over Europe, the Americas, and the rest of the world, tourists were shunted away from their favorite Greek tourist destinations after enjoying a booming year for tourism in 2019.

The Greek economy overall dipped a staggering 8% last year. Tourism revenue, still very much a vital part of the economy despite the country’s desire to diversify, plunged to 4.28 billion euros ($5.0 billion) in 2020 from 18 billion euros ($21 billion) in 2019 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The number of tourist arrivals also fell 76.5 percent, to just 7.4 million, according to the Greek Tourism Confederation Institute.

According to the British bank HSBC, the anticipated increase in tourism this year is poised to add 2% to Greece’s gross domestic product (GDP), according to a new report released on Thursday.

Despite an overall disappointing year in 2020, Greece managed to eke out nearly a quarter of its usual tourism business from June to November, according to data compiled by the Bank of Greece.