Covid-19 cases in Greece jump to 31; Amaliada region enters Phase 2 of containment

The total number of the new coronavirus cases in Greece has risen to 31, after 21 more people who came in contact with the country's ninth confirmed case tested positive, Greek Health Ministry spokesman Dimitris Tsiodras said in press briefing on Thursday.

Nine of the new patients were being treated in a hospital in Rio, a suburb of Patras, with three of them showing serious symptoms, he told journalists.

Due to the number of new cases, the region of Amaliada, in western Greece, is entering Phase 2 of the ministry's health risk containment strategy, which means that official measures will now focus on containing the virus from spreading to the rest of the country.

The new cases emerged as health authorities traced and tested everyone believed to have come into close contact with the 65-year-old Greek man who is being treated at an isolation unit at a hospital...