ATHENS — An overnight curfew will come into effect across the country on Friday, November 13, Deputy Minister for Civil Protection & Crisis Management Nikos Hardalias announced at a live briefing held on Wednesday evening.

During the hours of 21:00 to 05:00 every day, citizens must restrict their outings to the bare minimum: only for work, health emergencies and walking their pets, said the minister.

Greece is currently observing a nationwide lockdown that went into effect on November 7 and will remain effective through November 30. During this time, citizens must request a permit for their outings, issued via SMS messaging.

Regarding personal exercising, this must be carried out by a maximum of three people in close proximity to their homes; this does not relate to athletic training at professional club level, the minister clarified.

Hardalias also announced that as of Friday all public and private sector organizations and businesses must be able to provide documentation showing that they operate on skeleton staff only and have assigned the majority of their employees to work from home. The minister also recommended that TV stations reduce staff and guests to a minimum at studios at any given time.

Game hunting and fishing are still prohibited, he added.

"The coming weeks are very critical," stressed Hardalias, and "by limiting unnecessary mobility throughout the country, we are restricting the transmission of the virus, the creation of new clusters and new epidemiological multipliers."

New coronavirus infections rise to 2,752 on Wed.

Greece announced 2,752 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, including 39 identified at the entry gates of the country, the National Public Health Organization (EODY) said on Wednesday.

The number of confirmed infections in Greece since the start of the pandemic totals 63,321 of whom 4,556 are linked to travel abroad and 17,036 to already known cases.

People on ventilators total 297. Their median age is 65 years old, 82.8 pct have an underlying condition or are aged 70 or more, while 82 are women.

Patients discharged from ICUs since the start of the pandemic total 347.

EODY also said there were another 43 patients who died, bringing the toll of the disease to 909. Of the latter, their median age was 79 years and 96.7 pct had an underlying condition and/or were aged 70 or more. Of the 909, 360 were women.