Greek gov't extends measures over coronavirus fears

By Magda Panoutsopoulou

ATHENS (AA) - The Greek government has announced new measures to tackle the spread of the coronavirus nationwide, according to a health ministry official Friday.

In a televised address, Health Ministry representative Sotiris Tsiordas said that all malls, cafes, bars, and restaurants will shut down. The closure also affects libraries, museums and all archeological sites and sports venues.

In the briefing, Tsiodras, a disease specialist, said that supermarkets, food shops, bakeries, pharmacies and health services will remain open.

Also, all take-out and delivery food businesses will remain open.

Since Thursday, there have been 72 new cases of the virus, raising the total number of infected people in the country to 190.

According to Athens Macedonian News agency, of the 190, 11 are so-called 'orphan' cases (unknown source or contact), and of the 11, 9 are in the Attica region.

Of the total, 47 are hospitalized and 5 are in intensive care.

Ages of the infected cases are 79 belong to the 40-44 age group, 47 are over 65 years of age, and there are 7 cases aged from 0 to 17 years of age.

A total of 2,700 lab tests have been carried out in total, with 1,000 of them occurring the last 48 hours.

Greece has recorded one death so far due to the coronavirus.

Health Minister Vassilis Kikilias said that the public is not observing official advice to restrict its movements and stay home instead, which he said is one of the reasons why the government has introduced these measures.