News in brief

Greece reported its first fatality from a coronavirus infection on Thursday, a 66-year-old man who had returned from a religious trip to Israel and Egypt at the end of February.

There are so far 99 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Greece.

The Blue Star ferry, travelling from Kavala to the islands of the Northern Aegean, Mykonos, Syros and Piraeus, has been placed in quarantine. All 341 passengers onboard are waiting for the exam results of the crew member who presented possible symptoms of the coronavirus, and remain stranded at Lymnos port.

Meanwhile, in a televised address on Wednesday, shortly after the World Health Organization declared the new coronavirus a pandemic, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis expressed optimism that the problem would be tackled, but underlined that “the most difficult phase still lies ahead”.

“No measure can be substituted for individual responsibility,” he said.

He also urged the elderly not to attend church services as part of a new set of measures to prevent the spread of the virus to vulnerable populations.

All regular surgeries in Greek hospitals have been postponed and all afternoon medical exams at hospitals have been cancelled.

US President Donald Trump has announced new travel restrictions on Europe in a bid to combat the spread of the coronavirus.

In a televised address, he said travel from 26 European countries would be suspended for the next 30 days.

But he said the «strong but necessary» restrictions would not apply to the UK.

European Council president Charles Michel said on Thursday in a tweet that the EU will assess the travel ban, adding: “Economic disruption must be avoided.”

Italy is to close all shops except food stores and pharmacies in Europe’s toughest lockdown yet as virus deaths and cases continue to mount.

Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said bars, restaurants, hairdressers and non-essential company departments would also close.

The total number of coronavirus cases worldwide now stands at a little higher than 126 thousand according to figures from Johns Hopkins University.

A new round of tension was reported at the Evros region of the Greek-Turkish border on Wednesday, as migrants and refugees hurled petrol bombs and teargas against Greek police.

Based on the report, some migrants also tried to cut a hole in the fence to pass through, but Greek authorities responded with teargas and water cannons.

EU president Ursula von der Leyen announced Wednesday that the urgency of the new coronavirus pandemic has forced her to postpone her visit to Greece to tackle migration.

EU Commissioner Ylva Johansson will visit Greece instead and will hold talks with Mitsotakis. She will also visit Eleonas refugee camp in Athens and see unaccompanied children fleeing Syria’s civil war.

The annual report of the State Department says Turkey does not respect significant human rights and includes reports of arbitrary killings; suspicious deaths of persons in custody; forced disappearances; torture; arbitrary arrest and detention of tens of thousands of persons,

And the weather forecast…

Sunny in Attica this morning with the temperature expected to reach a high of 19 degrees Celsius.

More news in brief tomorrow morning at 9.