Greece braces for spike in coronavirus

With the number of confirmed Covid-19 cases rising to 31 on Thursday after 21 travelers who had recently returned from a pilgrimage to religious sites in Israel and Egypt tested positive, health authorities are bracing for a spike in the disease. 

"The coming weeks will see a significant increase in cases in Greece," said Sotiris Tsiodras, the Athens University professor in charge of the expert committee advising the government on its response to the virus. 

The new cases emerged as health authorities tried to track and test some 400 people believed to have come into close contact with the travelers, which include the 66-year-old Greek man who became the country's ninth case after testing positive on Wednesday.

He was being treated in an isolation unit at a hospital in Patra, western Greece, with a serious respiratory illness. His wife also tested positive on...