Education ministry closes eight Attica schools for possible exposure to coronavirus

Eight state schools in the Attica area will remain closed as a precaution on Friday, by orders of the education ministry, over concerns that members of these school communities may have come into contact with a coronavirus carrier.

They include the 4th General Vocational Lyceum in Haidari, the 4th Highschool in Haidari, the 11th Peristeri Lyceum, the 1st Experimental Athens Lyceum, the 1st Glyfada Highschool, the 1st Glyfada General Vocational Lyceum, the 19th Peristeri Kindergarten and the 5th Peristeri Primary School.

Greek schools educational trips abroad suspended

Health ministry spokesperson Sotiris Tsiodras on Friday announced the suspension of all educational trips abroad programmed by Greek schools due to the coronavirus.

He explained that they reached this decision because it was very difficult to track down the pupils' contacts abroad.

Tsiodras said that the suspension of social events and mass gatherings is not imperative for the time being, while carnival events throughout the country were cancelled for clearly epidemiological reasons. "The mass gathering would greatly favour factors for transmitting the coronavirus, spread thoughout the country," he said.

"The disease appears in more and more countries every day and people are preparing for the following day," he said, noting that there were incidents in regions where there was no clear source for the virus' origin.

Finally, Health Minister Vassilis Kikilias referred to the vulnerable population groups that are most affected by the virus. He said that the virus affects elderly patients with chronic ailments and that it is imperative to protect them.