Nikos Hardalias

Health authorities are increasingly concerned about the ability of the health service to treat a rising number of coronavirus patients as the frequency with which doctors, nurses and administrative staff at hospitals are testing positive for the virus is growing.

Deputy Civil Protection Minister Nikos Hardalias confirmed, during a press conference on Wednesday, a ban on gatherings of more than 10 people as part of the government's ongoing efforts to curb the spread of coronavirus. Offenders will be fined 1,000 euros, Hardalias added. 

Government spokesman Stelios Petsas had said the govermment was planning the ban earlier in the day. 

Greece's Health Ministry representative Sotiris Tsiodras on Wednesday announced 31 new cases of coronavirus, bringing the total to 418, with the death toll remaining at five. 

Of those infected, 79 are being treated in hospital while 13 are in critical condition, Tsiodras said. 

The average age of those infected stands at around 70 years, the ministry representative added. 

Greek Health Ministry spokesman Sotiris Tsiodras on Tuesday announced 35 new coronavirus infections, bringing total to 387, adding that one more patient has died, pushing the death toll to five. 

Tsiodras added that 14 people who had been treated after contracting the virus have been released. 

The average age of the victims is 68 years old, Tsiodras added. 

Greece's total number of confirmed Covid-19 infections stands at 352, as 21 new cases were added since Sunday, according to Health Ministry spokesman and infectious diseases Professor Sotiris Tsiodras who spoke at a press briefing on Monday.

Authorities on Wednesday were trying to identify and locate everyone who came into contact over the past two days with a 38-year-old woman who became the first patient in Greece to test positive for the novel coronavirus, in the northern port city of Thessaloniki.

Kyriakos Pierrakakis, the digital governance minister, reiterated on Thursday a government pledge to have the pan-EU 112 emergency phone number up and running by the end of 2019.

A large wildfire that broke out in a coastal town in east Attica continued to rage for a second day on Thursday, with more firemen sent to ensure no new fronts would ignite.
Some houses were evacuated as a precaution, according to fire service spokesman Vasilis Vathrakoyiannis.

As Greek authorities continued with an investigation into the causes of a large wildfire that razed hundreds of hectares of forestland on the island of Evia last week, debate is intensifying about the need for a joint European firefighting fleet.