PANDEMIC

Experts call for extension of capital’s lockdown

Experts call for extension of capital’s lockdown

The government should extend the lockdown in the most populous region of Greece by at least one week as the virus load remains high, health experts said on Thursday.

Athanasios Exadaktylos, president of the Panhellenic Medical Association and a member of the Health Ministry’s committee of experts, told Skai TV that the restrictive measures were imposed on time, but the spread of the new Covid-19 variants lead to faster contagion.

Manolis Dermitzakis, professor of genetics at the University of Geneva, told Mega channel that once the government decided to try to control the spread of the virus via lockdown, there is no other solution than to extend it. “I hope this will work at some point,” he said.

On his side, Dimosthenis Sarigiannis, Professor of the Department of Chemical Engineering at Thessaloniki’s Aristotle University, said a one-week extension was not enough for a region as populous as Attica.

The greater Athens region is under strict lockdown until the end of the month.

Health Minister Vassilis Kikilias said on Wednesday that 90 pct of intensive care units for Covid-19 in Attica are occupied.

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