ATHENS — The number of Greece's active coronavirus cases is 16,617, said Deputy Minister for Civil Protection Nikos Hardalias at Friday's briefing on the pandemic's course in the country.

Active cases are the confirmed infections which have yet to complete the 14-day cycle of home isolation, clarified the minister.

Most of the active cases total – that is, 7,031 cases (42.3 pct) – are located in the Central Macedonia region and 3,267 (19.7 pct) in the Attica region, he noted. In other words, an 86.1 pct of all the active cases are located at 5 of the country's 13 regions, with a 66.4 pct concentrated in northern Greece, and 17.9 pct in Attica. Thessaly in central Greece accounts for 1,777 of these, or 10.7 pct.

Greece's regions which continue to present alarming infection figures are Drama, Imathia, Florina, Pella and Pieria, all in northern Greece.

Hardalias also announced two preventative measures, effective as of 06:00 on Monday: anyone who tests positive at the country's entry points will be refused entry, and entry to the monastic community of Mt. Athos by anyone who does not live there permanently is forbidden.