Nikos Hardalias

The seaside promenades of the cities of Thessaloniki, Patras and Volos will reopen on Tuesday, as part of the government's plan to gradually relax a lockdown imposed in March to limit the spread of the coronavirus, a Greek official said on Monday.

Greek Health Ministry spokesman Sotiris Tsiodras on Monday announced 17 new coronavirus infections, bringing the total to 2,534, adding that two more patients have died, pushing the death toll to 136.

Tsiodras added that 43 people are currently being treated in intensive care units after contracting the virus (average age is 67), while 65 have left ICU.

Central Macedonia Governor Apostolos Tzitzikostas on Monday announced that Thessaloniki's popular waterfront, public access to which has been restricted since late March due to earlier overcrowding, will reopen on Sunday night. 

An Athens prosecutor launched an investigation on Thursday into whether criminal charges should be brought against the management of a private clinic in Peristeri, western Athens, after 37 people - 20 patients and 17 health professionals - tested positive for Covid-19, with three subsequently dying.

Greek Deputy Civil Protection Minister Nikos Hardalias on Friday called on Muslim citizens celebrating Ramadan to pray at home, as part of the efforts to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Speaking at the daily press briefing, he reiterated that mosques will hold prayer services during the religious month without public attendance.

About 30 new coronavirus cases were reported at a private clinic in Peristeri in western Athens on Thursday.

Tests were conducted after a patient came down with symptoms similar to coronavirus.

Health Ministry spokesman Sotiris Tsiodras and Deputy Civil Protection Minister Nikos Hardalias visited the clinic Thursday.

One hundred and seventy-seven residents from the small town of Kranidi, southern Greece, who were tested for the novel coronavirus came back negative, according to state-run broadcaster ERT on Thursday morning.

The tests wre ordered by health authorities after they discovered a cluster of coronavirus infections at a local facility housing refugees earlier this week.

Greek Health Ministry representative Sotiris Tsiodras on Wednesday announced seven new cases of coronavirus, bringing the total to 2,408, adding that there were no new deaths over the past 24 hours, so the death toll remains at 121.

A total of 55 coronavirus patients are intubated, with an average age of 67, and 51 have left intensive care, he said.

Greece's health and migration ministers were meeting Wednesday to discuss protective measures to keep the novel coronavirus from spreading in the country's migrant camps.

The meeting between Vassilis Kikilas and Notis Mitarakis at the Health Ministry was being attended by the government's chief scientific adviser on the coronavirus, Sotiris Tsiodras, and other officials.

A total of 150 people in an accommodation facility in the town of Kranidi, in southern Greece, have tested positive for the new coronavirus, Deputy Civil Protection Minister Nikos Hardalias told jousnalists after visiting the site on Tuesday.

Hardalias said 148 of these are refugees, one is an employee, and one is an aid worker. All patients are asymptomatic, he said.