‘Parties will be our undoing,’ warns medical expert

Greece’s remarkable performance in containing the spread of the novel coronavirus to a few thousand cases and less than 200 fatalities is being put at risk by large gatherings that could turn into super-spreader events, an expert has warned.

“Parties will be our undoing,” Alkiviadis Vatopoulos, a professor of microbiology at the National School of Public Health, told Skai television on Monday morning, after reports emerged over the weekend of a beach party in the western port of Patra on Friday that attracted more than 1,000 people.

Vatopoulos said that while he understood the desire to blow off steam after the lockdown, moderation and vigilance are still necessary while the virus lives among us.

“The least people can do is avoid unnecessary gatherings,” Vatopoulos said.

“If someone has the flu let’s assume that they have coronavirus until proven otherwise,” he said, advising caution.