News in brief
There are 33 new confirmed cases of coronavirus in Greece in the last 24 hours, and 5 more deaths, in the last 24 hours, the Ministry of Health reported on Sunday, in a statement signed by its novel coronavirus spokesman Sotiris Tsiodras.
The coronavirus infections total in Greece stands at 2,114, of whom 56.9% are men. Deaths total 98 since the start of the outbreak, of whom 88.8% had underlying health issues or their average age was 70 or over. Their average age was 72 and 26 of these were women.
A retirement home in Nea Makri, east of Athens, was put under quarantine late on Sunday amid fears that residents are at risk of infection from the coronavirus.
According to a statement released by the General Secretariat for Civil Protection, an inspection by members of the National Health Organization (EODY) pointed to a high risk for residents.
Following the results of checks on 122 residents and staff, it was decided that the home would be put under quarantine until the completion of inspections, on the order of Deputy Civil Protection Minister Nikos Hardalias, the secretariat said.
The government has asked for a prosecutor to press charges against two priests who provided communion to the faithful Sunday despite a ban on church attendance.
One of the priests, in the Athens neighborhood of Koukaki, was photographed from a nearby building secretly giving communion to people through the back door.
The other incident happened in St. Spyridon Church in the city of Corfu.
«What happened today in churches in Koukaki and Corfu is a violation of the law and of the Holy Synod’s orders and put the lives of citizens and public health in great danger. I contacted the Minister of Justice so that he can ask the prosecuting authorities to intervene,» said Nikos Hardalias, Deputy Minister of Civil Protection.
Authorities’ main concern remains attempts to flout strict quarantine measures during the week up to Orthodox Easter, which is celebrated next Sunday, by attending church and engage in the customary exodus from the cities to the countryside. From 6 am to 3 pm Sunday, 38 people were stopped trying to leave cities and fined 300 euros each.
During Easter Week (starting April 13), food stores will be open from 10:00 to 21:00 Monday to Friday, and from 10:00 to 20:00 on Easter Saturday (April 18).
Τhe global number of confirmed cases has passed 1.85 million, to reach 1,850,527, according to the Johns Hopkins University tracker. There have been 114,245 deaths globally.
China reported the highest daily infections in over five weeks. Mainland China reported 108 new coronavirus cases on Sunday, up from 99 a day earlier and 46 reported on Friday.
Top oil-producing countries agreed Sunday on “historic” output cuts in a bid to boost plummeting oil prices due to the new coronavirus crisis and a Russia-Saudi price war.
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday refused to accept the resignation of his interior minister over an abrupt nationwide lockdown that triggered a spate of panic-buying.
Boris Johnson has been discharged from hospital. He thanked the NHS for “saving [his] life” after leaving St Thomas’ hospital in south London where he had been hospitalised for a week.
The UK government is facing mounting criticism over its coronavirus response, particularly over its failure to secure enough personal protective equipment and tests for NHS and care workers as the country’s death toll passed 10,000. This follows a warning that that the UK could experience the highest coronavirus death toll in Europe.
Senior US public health officials have pushed back on Donald Trump’s eagerness to reopen the country quickly, as a senior World Health Organization figure warned that Covid-19 “is going to be a virus that stalks the human race for quite a long time to come”.
And the weather forecast…
Sunny in Attica today with the temperature expected to reach a maximum of 22 degrees Celsius.
