KOZANI, GREECE – The Kozani region, northwestern Greece, went under tighter lockdown restrictions at 06:00 on Saturday and for the next seven days.

The set of extra measures at Kozani – after high coronavirus infection rates in the area – were announced by Deputy Minister for Civil Protection & Crisis Management Nikos Hardalias on Friday.

The curfew at Kozani region will begin at 18:00 (3 hours earlier than usual in other Greek regions) and run to 05:00 the following morning. Employees who need to go to work will need special permits issued by their employers.

The entire retail sector will be shut down, including open-air markets (laikes). Bookshops, hairdressers and barbers, nail and beauty salons, which are open with restrictions everywhere else, will also be closed. In addition, customers will not be allowed to pick up online orders (click-away method) over the next week.

Churches and all worship places will be shut and all services banned except for funerals, which will be limited to 10 attendees.

Citizens in these municipalities will be rapid-tested en masse by the National Public Health Organization's (EODY) medical staff, while local workers, especially at the region's industrial zones, will be tested over 10 days (on the 1st, 5th and 10th days).

Workers at local nursing homes will be rapid-tested every 5 days.

Finally, face masks wil be distributed to everyone at Kozani region, free of charge.

Medical teams from the National Public Health Organization (EODY), together with Civil Protection staff and health experts, are in Kozani to help contain the situation.

At Kozani region, there are currently 397 active cases of infection, while 81 people are hospitalized – their median age is 53. Some 816 close contacts were revealed by contacts tracing there, who are all self-isolating at home. Of the 397 cases, 199 are in Kozani proper and 134 in Eordea.