ATHENS – The Health Ministry’s coronavirus spokesman and infectious diseases professor Sotiris Tsiodras on Thursday evening urged absolute diligence in observing all preventive and restrictive measures persistently, despite, as he said, the receding coronavirus pandemic.

Speaking at the televised daily briefing, he added he was “sad to say that careless behavior has led to a resurgence of outbreaks.” He said that most of the new outbreaks since Wednesday were at two health clinics, where “vigilance was not observed by health practitioners who are more sensitive” to the health threats.

He also said that health experts have decided to recommend people wearing a fabric face mask, but only in “public transport, supermarkets and pharmacies,” while more specific instructions on the matter will be announced soon by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), he added.

The professor also announced the daily statistics: 55 new confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Greece in the last 24 hours, and 4 new deaths. The Covid-19 infections total in Greece stands at 2,463.

Deaths stand at 125 since the start of the outbreak; 33 of them were women. Of the 125, a 90.4 pct had underlying health issues or their average age was 70 years or more. The average age of all the deceased was 74 years of age.

Some 52 patients are being treated in Intensive Care Units and 15 of these are women. An 85 pct of ICU patients have underlying health issues or are over 70 years of age.

A total of 57 people have so far been discharged from ICUs.

Some 59,241 Covid-19 diagnostic tests have been carried out in Greece since the start of the outbreak.