Greece Records Fewer Coronavirus Cases as it Prepares for Vaccine Passports

Greece recorded 1,505 new coronavirus cases on Saturday and more information was released on the upcoming “Digital Green Certificate” or vaccine passport, which should be available by June 1.

Vaccine Passports for Greeks on the horizon

The Digital Green Certificate is aimed at allowing free movement within the European Union even during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. They will be available in both physical and digital forms and will be free for all EU residents.

The certificate will be used to show whether the holder has been vaccinated against Covid-19, has received a negative test result or has recovered from it.

The vaccination passport will operate using unique QR codes in order to guarantee their authenticity.

Newest information shows that Greece will be ready to start issuing the certificate by June 1, as it has already put its digital platform through testing. The rest of the European Union will likely start to make use of the vaccine passport by June 20.

When the online platform opens to Greeks on gov.gr, all citizens will be able to log on using either their personal Taxisnet passwords or their AMKA (Social Security) number. They can then be issued a “Digital Green Certificate,” which is being hailed as the saving grace of the European travel industry.

However, these vaccine passports will not be mandatory for travel unlike other coronavirus regulations such as testing.

Coronavirus cases decrease in Greece on Saturday

Health authorities in Greece confirmed a total of 1,505 new coronavirus infections in the last 24 hours, a decrease from the 2,020 diagnosed on Friday. Only six of these new cases were identified at entry points to the country, the National Public Health Organization (EODY) stated.

Greece has confirmed a total of 388,931 infections since the beginning of the pandemic. A total of 33 infections diagnosed over the last seven days were related to travel from abroad and 2,328 were linked to other confirmed cases.

There were 37 deaths of people suffering with the coronavirus recorded in the last 24 hours, which represents 19 fewer tragedies than those recorded on the previous day. This brings the total of all those who lost their lives in Greece since the beginning of the pandemic to 11,734. Of this total, 95.2 percent also suffered from an underlying condition and/or were aged 70 or above.

A total of 586 patients are now on ventilators in hospitals across Greece, a marked decrease from the 617 patients who were undergoing the invasive procedure on Friday. Their median age is 67 years; 83.6 percent suffer from an underlying condition and/or are aged 70 or over.

Another 2,342 individuals have been discharged from ICUs since the pandemic began.

In addition, 267 Covid-19 patients were admitted to hospitals in Greece in the last 24 hours, showing a slight increase in hospitalisations of 2.69 percent. The average number of hospital admissions of patients with Covid-19 over the last seven days was 295.

The median age of all those recently diagnosed new infections is 44 years while the median age of the deceased being 78.