Concerns over virus outbreak at Athens retirement home

Amid continuing concerns about the rise in coronavirus infections, health authorities were on alert on Wednesday after 35 residents of a retirement home in Agios Panteleimonas tested positive for the virus. 

The government’s chief epidemiologist Sotiris Tsiodras and Deputy Civil Protection Minister Nikos Hardalias visited the home where other residents and staff were to be tested. "Things are not going well in Athens," Tsiodras said, referring to the course of the virus in the capital, noting that such outbreaks at retirement homes are usually triggered by staff.  

Another 354 new infections were announced on Wednesday – 195 of them in Attica which has seen the largest concentration of cases in recent weeks – while three new deaths were reported. The total number of cases is now 18,475 with the death toll at 391.

Meanwhile health authorities have advised the residents of five villages in the areas of Thiva and Halkida to stay home following a spike in cases there.