Athens-Macedonian News Agency

Greek Police (ELAS) will be checking travellers on highways and using drones and helicopters mostly in Athens and other big cities to ensure compliance with a ban on trips ahead of Orthodox Easter this Sunday, a deputy minister said Thursday.

Five children with Covid-19 illness have been admitted to Ippokratio General Hospital in Thessaloniki over the past 30 days, three of them over the last 48 hours, the head of a pediatric clinic at the hospital told state-run Athens-Macedonian News Agency (ANA-MPA) on Monday.

Authorities on Thursday night put a Roma settlement in Larissa, central Greece, under strict lockdown after several residents tested positive for the highly contagious novel coronavirus.

The settlement, which has an estimated population of around 3,000, was placed under quarantine on the orders of the deputy minister for civil protection, Nikos Hardalias, at 11 p.m. on Thursday.

There are still differences between the eurozone member-states, despite significant progress, but they are expected to be bridged by Thursday, Finance Minister Christos Staikouras said on Wednesday to the Athens-Macedonian News Agency.

The Minister's statement reads as follows:

Education Minister Niki Kerameus has said the government is working hard to make sure that the coronavirus pandemic will not push back the dates of the nationwide examinations for university entrance. 

Eleven snow ploughs were dispatched by municipal authorities in northern Greece to clear roads on and around Mount Hortiatis, which received more than 30 centimeters of snowfall overnight and on Thursday morning.

The General University Hospital of Evros in northeastern Greece confirmed the region's first case of Covid-19 on Wednesday, causing particular concern as the area shares borders with both Turkey and Bulgaria, is host to hundreds of refugees and is also dealing with a major migrant push from the east.

The president of the Thessaloniki Municipal Council on Tuesday lashed out at residents defying government injunctions for self-containment and social distancing to stem the spread of the coronavirus.

Citizens' Protection Minister Michalis Chrysochoidis and Frontex Executive Director Fabrice Leggeri were at the Kastanies crossing on the Greek-Turkish border at Evros on Thursday morning to oversee the deployment of dozens of guards from the European border agency.

The Greek Health Ministry has confirmed the country's first death from the Covid-19 coronavirus in the early hours of Thursday.