Covid-19 claims first victim in Greece

The Greek Health Ministry has confirmed the country’s first death from the Covid-19 coronavirus in the early hours of Thursday.

The victim was a 66-year-old patient at the Patra University Hospital in western Greece, who became infected with the virus while on a religious tour by bus of Israel and Egypt last month.

Several of his 53 fellow travelers were also infected and are either in hospital or in containment at home.

The unnamed patient was placed in a zero-pressure room on March 2 and was intubated on March 6. His condition became critical on the morning of March 10 and he died at 3.15 a.m. on March 12 after suffering multiple organ failure, the ministry was quoted by the Athens-Macedonian News Agency as saying.

The ministry also said that he had underlying health issues.