More than 7% of rapid tests in Thessaloniki come back positive
The National Organization for Public Health (EODY) conducted 3,402 rapid Covid-19 tests in the northern port city of Thessaloniki on Thursday, of which 252, or just over 7%, came back positive for the novel coronavirus, the agency reported on Friday.
The average age of the people who tested positive was 32 years old, EODY reported.
Hundreds of lined up for the tests, which were carried out by mobile EODY units who are being dispatched to areas experiencing surges in new infections. The testing drive on Thessaloniki’s waterfront came just a day before the city was placed on lockdown, along with the regional units of Larissa and Rhodope.
In a related development on Friday meanwhile, Thessaloniki Mayor Konstantinos Zervas lamented the “disgraceful” scenes of overcrowding at the city’s more popular nightlight spots on Thursday night as young Thessalonians reacted to the impending closure of bars, restaurants, cinemas, theaters and other restrictions that went into effect on Friday morning.
“The next two weeks will be critical,” Zervas told the Athens-Macedonian News Agency after cameras captured footage of hundreds of people partying outside bars in downtown Thessaloniki’s Ladadika district.
“We’ll have to fight hard against the coronavirus for an entire month so that we can see in December with better epidemiological figures and allow the economy to recover,” he said, expressing fears that if the rise in cases persists and restrictions are extended beyond the current two-week period and into the pre-holiday season, the impact on the city’s economy would be devastating.
