THESSALONIKI — More than 40 staff members, including doctors on the front line of battling COVID-19 have been infected at the General Hospital of Didymoteicho in northern Greece in a town with a population of just over 9,000, state broadcaster ERT said.

The region is one of the hardest-hit across the country and facing the likelihood of a tighter lockdown because of the persistence of cases, the outbreak spreading among those trying to save patient’s lives and health.

Many COVID-19 patients at the hospital were moved to the University Hospital of Alexandroupoli, about 95 kilometers (59 miles) southwest of Didymoteicho, the report said with no information whether the infected staff were still working.

Doctors, nurses and hospital staff were due to be among the first to get the COVID-19 first batch of vaccines but those aren’t expected until the end of the year at the soonest.