Greece records 2,581 new virus cases, 72 deaths

ATHENS

Greece has registered another 72 deaths over the past 24 hours, the highest single-day rise in the country since the start of the pandemic, health authorities said Friday.

The death toll in the country rose to 1,419, while the median age of those who died was 80 years.

Another 2,581 new cases were registered over the past day, bringing the total number of cases to 87,812.

Of the new cases, 38 were reported at the country’s entry points.

The number of intubated patients also rose to 519 from 499 on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Greece’s health system is seeing an unprecedented pressure with 80% of all intensive care unit beds being occupied at public hospitals.

Greece has a total of 1,220 intensive care beds at public hospitals and only 220 of them are currently free, the Health Ministry said on Friday.

Just 22% (124 of 569) of the intensive care beds for treating non-COVID-19 patients are currently free around the country, while lower than 15% (96 of 651) of intensive care beds dedicated for COVID-19 patients are vacant.​​​​​​​