Attica still in eye of Covid storm, with 194 new cases

Struggling to buck the trend of recent weeks, the Greek capital remained in Orange Alert territory on Wednesday, accounting for 194 of the country’s 358 new reported coronavirus infections.

Of those 194 cases, just 15 were traced to known outbreaks and five to recent travel inside the country, indicating the continued prevalence of community transmissions, which the government hopes to restrict with recent measures banning many public events, reducing crowd sizes, making masks mandatory in more settings and increasing inspections to ensure these measures are being implemented.

The eastern Aegean islands of Lesvos and Samos are also grappling with outbreaks, reporting 17 new cases each on Wednesday, of which 16 – in both cases – came from the islands’ respective migrant camps.

The central Greek town of Trikala – which has been a virus hot spot since the start of the pandemic – reported an additional 13 cases on Wednesday, while nearby Larissa and Pella in northern Greece, which have also struggled to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus, had seven new cases each.

Thessaloniki, Greece’s biggest city, reported just 10 cases on Wednesday.