News in brief

The Greek government on Thursday significantly upped the ante of an emergency economic response to keep the economic afloat amid and after the ongoing coronavirus «lockdown», after essentially being freed from fiscal restraints by European partners this week.
Taking to the national airwaves for a third consecutive afternoon, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said an 800-euro per month benefit to employees of closed businesses would – until the end of April – w

ill be extended to staff of businesses still open but severely affected, as well as to self-employed professionals.
The Greek state will also cover social security contributions of employees in the private sector, while suspending the obligation to pay social insurance dues during the affected period by self-employed professionals.
Additionally, an extraordinary «Easter benefit» will be doled out to public healthcare staff and civil defense staff-members.
In total, the emergency package could reach 10 billion euros.
Mitsotakis also emphasized that increasingly drastic measures taken in the country – such as halting flights to and from Greece as of Sunday and banning public gatherings of above 10 people – aim to keep any Covid-19 outbreak contained.

European Union leaders will hold another video conference on March 26 to discuss the impact of coronavirus, a top official said on Thursday, the same day the European Parliament plans to increase EU aid to the economy.

The Hellenic Police (ELAS) will begin in the coming days car and motorcycle patrols with loudspeakers in Athens and other big cities to inform citizens that public gatherings of more than ten people are banned.
The pre-recorded messages will call on those violating the measure to comply. Authorities are planning to also record the message in English and Arabic to assist with foreigners or migrants living in the city center.
The decision was made in a teleconference between Citizen Protection Minister Michalis Chrysochoidis with the heads of regional police nationwide.

Citizen’s stance this weekend will determine whether the government will take more drastic measures against the spreading of the coronavirus in Greece, the Prime Minister announced yesterday in a televised message.

The governor of California has ordered all citizens to stay at home as he escalated attempts to combat Covid-19 in America’s most populous state. Gavin Newsom earlier wrote to Donald Trump to warn that 25.5 million people in the state could contract the virus.

Train services in Britain will be wound down to a minimum from Monday. Passenger numbers have dropped 70% in the outbreak. Key workers will be able to keep their children in school when they close on Monday.

Researchers at Oxford University are racing to develop a UK vaccine against coronavirus with the hope of making it available by the end of the year.

The number of deaths in Italy has passed the total in China to make it the worst-affected country in the world with 3,405 fatalities. Southern and central Italy are braced for a “tsunami” of cases.

Counterterrorism officers discovered a secret 20-meter-long underground tunnel during a raid on a property in the Athens district of Sepolia on Thursday that contained heavy artillery, including anti-tank weapons, Kalashnikov rifles, pistols and hand grenades.Police were investigating possible links to Turkish far-left terror group DHKP-C.The raid on the property in Sepolia, as well as one in Exarchia, led to the detention of 26 suspects for questioning, 10 of whom were to be charged.

And the weather forecast…

Sunny in Attica today with the temperature expected to reach a maximum of 19 degrees Celsius.