Nikos Hardalias

As scientists warn that social distancing measures might have to remain in place to some degree for up to two years before natural immunity to the coronavirus has been established, government officials said on Wednesday it is too early to talk about relaxing a lockdown imposed last month.

Greece's chief adviser and spokesman for the coronavirus epidemic is the most popular person in Greece right now, a recent poll has shown.

Greek health teams conducted numerous tests in several retirement homes around the region of Attica in the past 48 hours after at least 12 residents in a home in Nea Makri, east Attica, tested positive for coronavirus, Deputy Minister of Civil Protection Nikos Hardalias said on Monday's regular briefing.
The infected residents were transferred to Athens' Sotiris Hospital.

A retirement home in Nea Makri, east of Athens, was put under quarantine late on Sunday after residents tested positive for the coronavirus. 

In comments to Skai television on Monday, Deputy Health Minister Vassilis Kotzamanis said that at least 12 people at the home had tested positive for Covid-19. 

The government has asked for a prosecutor to press charges against two priests who provided communion to the faithful Sunday despite a ban on church attendance.

One of the priests, in the Athens neighborhood of Koukaki, was photographed from a nearby building secretly giving communion to people through the back door.

Greek authorities on Friday stressed that the continued containment of the coronavirus pandemic will be a delicate affair after quarantining a Roma settlement on the outskirts of Larissa in central Greece, following an outbreak of the virus among residents. 

Four more people died from coronavirus disease 2019 in the last 24 hours in Greece, with the total number of victims standing at 90, Health Ministry spokesman Sotiris Tsiodras said on Friday.

Health authorities confirmed an additional 56 new cases of Covid-19 which bring the total to 2,011, of which 57 percent are male.

Deputy Minister for Citizens' Protection Nikos Hardalias, Deputy Interior Minister Thodoros Livanios and government epidemic expert Sotiris Tsiodras are among an official delegation that is due to visit the site of a potentially large coronavirus outbreak in central Greece on Friday.

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.

Both the government and the Church of Greece clarified Thursday that churches will only be open for clerics during Orthodox Holy Week, in line with state efforts to curb the spread of the coronavirus, and called on the faithful to pray at home.