News in brief

The Covid-19 infections total in Greece stands at 2,145. Of these, 25.8 pct were infected abroad and 40 pct in Greece.
Deaths total 100 since the start of the outbreak. A total of 16 people have so far been discharged from ICUs.

Addressing the public, the Civil Protection Minister Nikos Chardalias again repeated his message that churches will be closed to the public during Greek Orthodox Easter Week, and urged families to celebrate Easter (April 19) just with those they live with, instead of inviting friends and relatives over. Criticizing two church officials for disregarding the law and the Church of Greece directives, he said that «some people ought to understand they are not more faithful Christians than others.»

Speaking of the Nea Makri retirement home that was placed in quarantine after positive coronavirus cases found there, the minister said that all retirement homes in the Attica region traced to coronavirus-positive people were being continuously checked by authorities to ensure they are following directions.

Communities in northern Greece (Kastoria and Xanthi areas) under lockdown will continue to remain so preventatively until the end of April, he noted, while Echinos in Xanthi and Foustani in Pella, under quarantine, will go back to normality on Tuesday. He thanked the residents of the two villages and the local authorities for their help.

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis commended Greeks for adhering to the restrictive measures implemented over the past five weeks to stem of the spread of the coronavirus in the country but warned against complacency that could lead to a resurgence of the virus in a televized address to the nation on Monday evening.

“The war has not been won yet,” he said, adding that Greeks have endured personal sacrifices “with a high sense of responsibility.”
Commenting on the start of the Orthodox Holy Week, he described it as «the most crucial» in the fight against the coronavirus and called on citizens to spend Easter away from churches and friendly gatherings.
“Our faith is not at risk, but the health of the faithful,” he said. “A thread separates victory from disaster and if we don’t heed to the advice of the experts until the end, we may destroy all we have achieved.”

The global death toll neared 120,000 as cases passed 1.92 million. According to Johns Hopkins University figures, 1,920,985 people worldwide are known to have been infected with coronavirus, though the total number of infections is likely higher. So far, 119,687 people have died in the pandemic.

France restrictions to ease in May. In a televised address, the French president said France would start returning to normal life on 11 May, if citizens were “civic, responsible and respected the rules” – and if the number of cases of coronavirus continued to drop. He said that only by respecting the confinement rules would the battle against Covid-19 be won.

Trump threatens to withdraw funding from WHO again. In a bizarre and antagonistic press briefing that included the airing of a campaign-style video attacking the press and Trump announcing his authority over lockdown rules is “total”, the US president said he will also decide this week whether he plans to reopen the US by 1 May.

In a televised address on Tuesday morning, prime minister Narendra Modi announced that India’s nationwide lockdown is to be extended until 3 May.The lockdown in India, imposed on its population of 1.3bn people, is the largest of its kind anywhere in the world and has been the cause of enormous amounts of human suffering since it was first introduced at midnight on 24 March.

And the weather forecast…

Partly cloudy in Attica today, with local showers expected in the north. The temperature today will reach a maximum of 20 degrees Celsius.