ATHENS, March 26 (Xinhua) -- The total confirmed COVID-19 infections in Greece has reached 892, including 26 deaths, Prof. Sotirios Tsiodras, coronavirus control spokesman of the Health Ministry, announced on Thursday.
Since Wednesday, authorities diagnosed 71 new cases and reported 4 more deaths, he told a press conference here.
At the moment 57 patients were treated in intensive care units and 42 have been discharged from hospitals.
"We are still at the beginning of the battle... The development of the epidemic will be corresponding to the confinement measures and peoples' compliance," Tsiodras stressed.
Nikos Hardalias, Deputy Minister for Civil Protection and Crises Management at the Ministry of Citizen Protection, added that currently 5,824 citizens were in quarantine as potential carriers of the virus, including several who arrived in Greece lately from abroad.
Greece has been under a 14-day nationwide lockdown from Monday. Under the measure, people who want to leave their homes for work, to see a doctor, to help a person in need or for necessities should carry a certificate.
Over the past three weeks, the government has gradually shut down schools, universities, restaurants, coffee shops, shopping malls, retail shops, sports and culture centers, public parks and put restrictions or banned air, sea and road connections with many countries.
Earlier on Thursday, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis appointed Elias Mossialos, Prof. of Health Policy at London School of Economics and Political Science and Imperial College London, to be the government's representative at international organizations on issues relating to the coronavirus, read an e-mailed press statement issued by the prime minister's office.
Meawhile, the authorities continue its efforts in collecting various medical supplies to be used in the fight against the virus.
Greece has received 5 tons of antimalarial medicine chloroquine, Dimitris Filippou, president of Greece's National Organization for Medicines, told public broadcaster ERT on Thursday.
In addition, the parliament approved on Thursday a legislative act proposed by Minister of Development and Investments Adonis Georgiadis, extending antiseptic production to Greek companies producing cosmetics, Greek national news agency AMNA reported.
Since the outbreak of the coronavirus in Greece, demand for antiseptics has skyrocketed to 500,000 items per day, compared to 200,000 before, Georgiadis said.
