Greece imposes stricter coronavirus curfew

By Magda Panoutsopoulou

ATHENS (AA) - The Greek government announced Friday that a stricter curfew will be imposed in Attica, Thessaloniki and Halkidiki in the wake of a recent surge in coronavirus infections.

Daily infections this week quadrupled, raising the concern of health experts and prompting the government to take further steps to control the surge.

Beginning Saturday and for the next 10 days, a curfew from 6 p.m. to 5 a.m. (1600GMT to 0300GMT) will be imposed on weekends in the three regions, Deputy Civil Protection Minister Nikos Hardalias said at a news conference.

Greece currently has a curfew until 9 p.m. (1700GMT).

Stores allowed to remain open on weekends in the three regions will be supermarkets, grocery stores, bakeries, gas stations and pharmacies and will operate from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. (0700GMT to 1500GMT).

All other days retails shops will operate on the click-away system that allows customers to pick up items online or by phone and will close at 8 p.m. (2000GMT).

High schools will be closed in the regions but classes will continue online.

Greece recorded 1,195 more infections Friday bringing the total to 162,107 since the start of the pandemic.

Of the new infections, 558 were recorded in Attica region and 150 in Thessaloniki.

Nineteen people died in the last 24 hours bringing the number of deaths to 5,922.