Grigoris Leon

Authorities continue to seek answers regarding the reasons behind the deaths of the infants who came into contact with 24-year-old Irini in Amalia

As authorities strive to ensure that Greeks comply with a lockdown imposed on Monday, the City of Athens is stepping up its efforts to help homeless citizens who do not have the option of self-isolating and those on low incomes who attend City Hall's food distributions.

Autopsies in cases where death was caused by the new coronavirus should be avoided, the Hellenic Society of Forensic Medicine (HSFM) recommended on Thursday following the first death recorded in Greece of the pandemic.

In cases of confirmed infection, HSFM said, the death certificate should be issued without an autopsy, while cases of suspected infection should be tested after death.

The Athens municipal authority will be hosting a Christmas luncheon for some 1,200 of the Greek capital's homeless and poor on Wednesday.

The lunch, which will be held at the Rouf indoor municipal sports arena, will be opened at 1 p.m. by Athens Mayor Kostas Bakoyannis, while there will also be music and gifts. 

With data showing a rise in road accidents in September and October, experts appear pessimistic about December and January due to the increased risk factors resulting from holiday excess.

There are fears that most perpetrators of rape and sexual abuse in Greece go unpunished as a dearth of medical examiners means only a fraction of cases of sexual assault are officially reported. 

According to the General Secretariat for Gender Equality, around 5,000 rapes occur in the country every year. But only about 150 are certified by a medical examiner.

Only 21 of Greece's 51 regions have a coroner service and just two full-time and 11 fixed-contract medical examiners serve the public health system (ESY), Greek Coroners' Association chief Grigoris Leon warned on Tuesday.

Six in 10 death certificates issued in Greece contain serious errors, the head of the association representing the country's coroners told a medical conference on Crete.

The majority of the mistakes are located in the way cause of death is described and recorded, according to Grigoris Leon, who called for more vigorous training, starting at medical school.

The Hellenic Society of Forensic Medicine (HSFM) carried out a study on child suicide and found that Greece has the lowest child suicide rate in Europe. The suicide rate among Greece’s minors is 0.4 per 100,000 for boys and 0.11 per 100,000 for girls.