Brief ceremony for new president's swearing-in

Greece's new president Katerina Sakellaropoulou is to be sworn in at 11 a.m. on Friday in a ceremony at Greece's Parliament which is expected to be small, brief and devoid of physical contact between the participants amid concerns about the continuing spread of the new coronavirus.

Immediately after the ceremony, Sakellaropoulou is scheduled to lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in front of Parliament, before going to the Presidential Palace where she is to assume her duties, taking over from Prokopis Pavlopoulos.

Sakellaropoulou has decided to cancel a further ceremony which had been planned for Saturday, citing the need for a collective effort to boost the authorities' attempts to contain the spread of the virus.