Greece toughens restrictive measures

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Athens, Nov 1 (IANS) The Greek government has announced tougher restrictive measures to control the further spread of the coronavirus, as the country reported a record high number of single-day cases.

On Saturday, the National Public Health Organization reported 2,056 new cases, which increased the overall tally to 39,251 since the first infection was diagnosed on February 26, reports Xinhua news agency.

Saturday's figure is the new daily high in the past eight months and the 10th time a new record was being set in October.

The previous one was registered a day earlier with 1,690 cases.

Six people have died since Friday, bringing the total fatalities to 626.

Amidst the surge of cases, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis earlier on Saturday announced a new set of restrictions that will start on Tuesday and will last until December in an effort to avoid a full nationwide lockdown like the one imposed in spring.

The use of protective face masks will become compulsory indoors and outdoors across the country, while a night curfew from midnight to 5 a.m. which was previously applied only to regions with heavy epidemiological load, will be extended nationwide.

All gatherings are suspended, universities will be offering online courses only, while schools will continue to remain open and half of the working force in the public and private sectors will be working from home.

In regions of high alert with heavy epidemiological load, restaurants and cafeterias will remain closed with the exception of take away and delivery services.

Authorities will also shut down indoors gyms, cinemas, theatres and museums, while open air archaeological sites, hotels, shopping malls, retail shops and hair salons, will continue operating.

--IANS

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