On Wednesday, the ministry confirmed the first case of the epidemic in the country. According to the ANA-MPA news agency, a 38-years-old woman who had recently visited Italy tested positive for the virus in the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki.
According to the Greek City Times news portal, the fifth infected person is a woman who contacted the patient zero. Another case is a Greek national who had recently traveled to coronavirus-hit Italy, while the seventh patient is also a Greek national who contacted the third confirmed COVID-19 case. All these people have been hospitalized.
During a press conference on Saturday, Greek Health Minister Vasilis Kikilias said that all carnival events across the country had been canceled given the epidemiologic situation.
On a global scale, to date, the coronavirus disease has infected over 85,000 people, of whom 2,900 have died and nearly 40,000 have recovered.