Emergency meeting on hard lockdown for Attica called by PM

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is convening an emergency meeting of key government officials on Tuesday to discuss concerns about a spike in coronavirus cases in the Greek capital and recommendations for a hard lockdown similar to that imposed last spring.

The meeting, which has been scheduled for 1.30 p.m., will be attended by Health Minister Vassilis Kikilias, Deputy Minister for Civil Protection Nikos Hardalias, chief epidemiologist Sotiris Tsiodras and the president of the National Organization for Public Health (EODY), Panagiotis Arkoumaneas, among other officials.

It comes after Kikilias said in a television interview earlier on Tuesday that expert reports submitted to the Health Ministry in recent days have been dictating the need for stricter restrictions in broader Attica area, where transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 virus has been rising in recent days,...