As the COVID-19 pandemic is slowly being beaten back in Greece, health officials were anxious over an uptick in cases on the island of Kos, urging residents and tourists to be cautious.

The island went from yellow to orange using an indication scale of danger said Deputy Minister for Civil Protection Nikos Hardalias about the popular eastern Aegean spot as Greece is trying to lure more visitors.

The agency, he said, “is doing everything it can to contain small outbreaks,” but residents and tourists must follow health measures such as wearing masks and keeping safe social distances although all visitors have to be free of the virus before entering the country.

Overall, there are signs of continuing improvement though with 16 areas northern Athens, Viotia, Thessaloniki, Ioannina, Grevena, Achaia, Rethymno, Tinos, Evia, Aitoloakarnania, Lesvos, Kilkis, Iraklio in Crete, Syros, Andros and Kalymnos, dropping in the alert level.

Areas that have climbed into the best level are Preveza, Samos, Lefkada, Kefalonia, Evrytania, Thasos, Limnos and Milos, said Kathimerini.

The country's most populous area of Attica, which includes the capital Athens, accounted for half of the cases most days, with the downtown area the heaviest hit while the second-largest cit and major port of Thessaloniki is also seeing occasionally high levels during these days.