Greece is entering into a state of severe Covid-19 lockdown until March 22, at least, as the epidemiological data of the last few days leaves no room for complacency.

The data available to scientists were overwhelming, putting great pressure on the country’s National Health System. In addition to yesterday’s 2,405 cases, the 400 hospital admissions per day, the increase of intubated ICUs, the capacity rate in Attica reaching 92%, and the rise to 4.5% of the positivity index forced the government and experts to decide on taking new measures.

In light of the above, the Deputy Minister of Civil Protection, Nikos Hardalias, announced that 8 more regions had been included in the ‘deep red’ zone, meaning they would enter into total lockdown, while all schools in the country are closed for a period of two weeks.

For a second weekend, the new curfew will apply, due to the stricter lockdown measures for the coronavirus. Specifically, in the areas located in the “deep red” movement for traffic is prohibited from 19:00 to 05:00, among these areas are Attica and Thessaloniki.

The opening hours of retail stores are adjusted to the hours of the traffic curfew. This means that optionally, on weekdays from 7:00 a.m. until 8:30 p.m. and on Saturdays from 7:00 a.m. until 18:30.

On Sundays, only grocery stores, patisseries, bakeries, etc. are allowed to operate until 18:30.