DRAMA, Greece — Three patients from Drama with Covid-19 were transferred in a special capsule by a C-130 from the airport of Kavala to Athens on Thursday.

They are two 76-year-old persons and a 75-year-old one who are seriously ill. The three patients will be transferred to Evangelismos, Sotiria and Attikon Hospitals.

Greece has seen a significant surge in coronavirus cases and deaths that is straining the country’s health system.

Although the government has carried out mass hirings of medical workers since the pandemic struck and has more than doubled the number of intensive care unit beds in the country since mid-2019, many ICUs, particularly in northern Greece where the outbreak has been most severe, are at or near their capacity. Health authorities have appropriated two private clinics in the northern city of Thessaloniki and their staff, to be used for coronavirus patients.

Greece currently has more than 97,000 confirmed coronavirus cases and just over 1,900 deaths in this country of 11 million. Nearly 600 people are intubated in ICUs nationwide, according to figures released Wednesday evening.