Two More Regional Units in Greece Enter ‘Red’ Covid-19 Status

Ioannina, Greece. Photo by G. Bozouris

Two more Greek regional units – Ioannina and Serres – will transition to red Covid-19 status due to a surge of infections, according to Greek Civil Protection Deputy Minister Nikos Hardalias.

Speaking to the media during the Covid-19 briefing on Tuesday, Hardalias informed that Ioannina (northwestern Greece) and Serres (northern Greece) will move up a risk level on the risk-assessment map  to Level 4-red (strict measures) from Level 3-orange (increased monitoring) as of 6am on Thursday, October 29.

Greece now has four regional units, including Kozani and Kastoria, at Level 4-red.

The deputy minister added that the Greek island of Naxos (Cyclades island group) and Rodopi (northern Greece) will move up a risk level to Level 3-orange (increased monitoring) from Level 2-yellow (monitoring)

Greek Civil Protection Deputy Minister Nikos Hardalias.

Drama (northern Greece) will transition to Level 2-yellow (monitoring) from Level 1–green (on alert) and the island of Amorgos in the Cyclades will go down from yellow status to green.

The deputy minister appealed to the citizens of the areas that will transition to red status to be very careful and to abide by the government’s announced measures, as the situation can easily get out of hand.

Moreover, he underlined that both Thessaloniki and Larissa are on the borderline of passing to Greece’s highest risk level (red).

“Clearly the pandemic is on the rise, with a main focus on Northern Greece,” Hardalias stressed, adding that the situation remains extremely critical and requires great care.

The announcement came after Greece broke the four-digit ceiling with 1,259 cases on Tuesday, compared with 715 on Monday.

Of the new cases reported by the National Public Health Organization (EODY), 295 were found in Attica, 291 in Thessaloniki, 47 in Larissa, 21 in Ioannina and 55 in Serres.

Greece’s risk-assessment map allows citizens to track the spread of the coronavirus (Covid-19) in Greece and stay up to date with the safety measures by regional unit.

For ‘orange’ and ‘red’ areas 

It is reminded that citizens in all regional units that appear as high risk (levels 3-orange and 4-red) on the country’s risk-assessment map must now follow two new measures:

– wear masks everywhere in public (indoors and outdoors)
– stay indoors between 12:30am and 5:00 am (late night curfew)

The online risk-assessment map is in Greek and can be found here.

The risk level of a regional unit can be found on the map by selecting it from a list, by inserting a postal code, or by pressing on a destination.

Some of the measures that apply to regional areas, according to their risk level, can be found here (in English).