Average age of newly infected people drops to 39

The average age of new coronavirus infections dropped from 40 years to 39 this past week, Health Minister Vassilis Kikilias said on Wednesday during a regular briefing, noting there were 2,040 infections a day, on average, for the past seven days.

“The hospitals and health centers of all island areas … have been reinforced,” he said, responding to a press query about whether he was concerned that the reopening of tourism will expose islanders to more infections.

The areas with the highest number of infections per 100,000 people include Western Greece region, Attica, Thessaly in central Greece and the South Aegean. Last week, a spike in infections was recorded in the Regions of North Aegean, Ionian Islands, Crete and Epirus.

Kikilias also said that by the end of the day, Greece will have vaccinated a total of over 4,615,000 people. Of those, 1.7 million people have had both doses. By Friday, 3 million will have received at least the first dose, he said.

Speaking at the same briefing, Greek Tourism Confederation (SETE) President Yiannis Retsos said the sector is prepared to host visitors in safety, while the sector’s goal this year is to protect Greece’s brand as a safe destination.

As the sector’s success is closely related to the coronavirus pandemic’s development, he said, any attempt to predict turnover and numbers at this point is risky.

[ANA-MPA]