Greece said it has decided to isolate a migrant camp after 20 asylum seekers tested positive for the new coronavirus, the migration ministry said on Thursday. A 19-year-old female migrant who gave birth in hospital in Athens was found infected, becoming the first recorded case among thousands of asylum seekers kept in overcrowded migrant camps across the country. Following the incident, tests on 63 people were conducted. The camp has an isolation area for coronavirus patients should the need arise, ministry sources had revealed. None of the confirmed cases had any symptoms, the ministry said, noting that it was continuing its tests. Greece, which recorded its first coronavirus case at the end of February, has reported 1,415 cases so far. Fifty people have died. Any movement in and out of the Ritsona camp, which is 75 kilometres (45 miles) northeast of Athens and hosts up to 2,500 people, will be restricted for 14 days the ministry said, adding that police would monitor the implementation of the measures. Earlier this week, authorities were trying to trace where the woman had become infected and looking at the possibility it may have been at the hospital, the Associated Press reported. The country is a gateway for migrants and asylum seekers fleeing war and poverty in the Middle East and beyond, with more than 1 million having passed through the country in 2015-2016.
مشاركة :