ATHENS — An overnight curfew will come into effect across the country starting on Friday, November 13, between the hours of 21:00 to 05:00 every day. During those hours, citizens must restrict their outings to the bare minimum: only for work (with a permit), health emergencies and walking their pets.

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 either send an SMS message or have a printed or hand-written document citing the reasons for their outing every time they leave their homes.

Regarding personal exercise, this is restricted to a maximum of three people at a time and in close proximity to their homes; it does not cover athletic training at a professional club level.

As of Friday all public and private sector organisations and businesses must be able to provide documentation showing that they operate a 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.

Greece confirmed another 3,316 new coronavirus infections in the last 24 hours, including 24 identified at entry points into the country, the National Public Health Organisation (EODY) said on Thursday.

The total number of infections confirmed in Greece since the start of the pandemic is 66,637, of whom 4,587 are linked to travel abroad and 17,773 to already known cases.

Currently 310 patients are on ventilators. Their median age is 65 years, 82.9 pct of them have underlying conditions or are aged 70 or more, and 88 are women. Another 353 have been discharged from ICUs since the start of the pandemic.

In addition, EODY reported another 50 deaths, bringing the pandemic's toll to 959 in Greece. Of the total, their median age was 80 years and 96.9 pct had an underlying condition and/or were aged 70 or more, while 387 were women.