Hard lockdown could be extended in other areas, expert warns
One day after the government announced hard lockdowns in three western Attica municipalities to stem the tide of coronavirus infections, a prominent expert did not rule out similar measures for more areas in Greece.
“A tougher lockdown should have been put in place, like the one imposed in March,” Athanasios Exadaktylos, president of the Panhellenic Medical Association and a member of the Health Ministry’s committee of experts, told Skai radio on Friday.
“The [second] lockdown was imposed when the virus had already spread out significantly,” Exadaktylos said, adding that existing restrictions were less stringent compared to the first lockdown in spring.
“A lockdown like the one implemented in March would have most likely been more effective more quickly,” he said.
Just a few days after the partial easing of restrictive measures to contain coronavirus cases, the pandemic has surged again in western Attica, prompting immediate emergency action.
On Thursday, Deputy Minister of Civil Protection Nikos Hardalias announced a ban on movement from 6 p.m. to 5 a.m. and the suspension of click-and-collect services at retail stores in the municipalities of Elefsina, Aspropyrgos and Mandra-Eidyllia.
Exadaktylos said the measures may have to be extended in other areas including Kozani in northern Greece.
In its daily bulletin on Thursday, the National Organization for Public Health (EODY) announced 78 deaths and 1,155 new inflections in the 24-hour period. The number of intubated patients stood at 542.
