Poll shows crisis management approval
As the government continues with its efforts to contain the spread of the coronavirus, a new opinion poll has indicated that the majority of the public approves of its response despite a high level of public concern about the crisis.
Eight in 10 Greeks are concerned about the coronavirus pandemic, according to a new opinion poll carried out by Pulse for Skai between March 30 and April 1. Specifically, 78 percent of respondents said they were worried about the pandemic.
However, about the same proportion (82 percent) said they were satisfied with the measures taken by the government to respond to the crisis and contain the spread of the virus.
At the same time, Health Ministry spokesman Sotiris Tsiodras on Thursday announced 169 new cases of coronavirus, pushing the total number of cases above 1,600, and said the death toll of infected people had risen to 53.
Of the new cases, 23 are residents at the Ritsona refugee camp, north of Athens, and 119 are people on a passenger ferry currently anchored off Piraeus.
As for the case of the Eleftherios Venizelos passenger ferry, which has been moored off Piraeus since March 22 with 383 people aboard, Deputy Civil Protection Minister Nikos Hardalias said those who tested negative will be quarantined in an Athens hotel for 14 days.
The others, the majority of whom have only mild symptoms, will remain in quarantine aboard the ferry. Most of the passengers on the ferry were foreign workers who had been employed for a construction project at the Spanish port of Cadiz which was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
State health officials quarantined a refugee camp in Ritsona, north of Athens, after 23 of its residents tested positive for Covid-19. The patients were among 63 camp residents who were tested immediately after a woman was found to be infected with the virus earlier this week at a hospital in Athens after giving birth. More of the camp’s 2,600 residents will be tested over the next few days. Under the quarantine rules, no one will be allowed in or out of the camp for the next 14 days.
