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In his second nationally televised address on the government’s strategy in dealing with Covid-19 today Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis braced Greeks for a multi-front “war”

'The enemy is the virus and now we have to do our utmost to protect our people and economies. We are ready to do everything required. and will not hesitate to take additional measures as the situation evolves,' said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

The paramount objective right now is to avoid at all costs the travails of the Italian health system and to limit as much as possible the dramatic disaster that Italy is experiencing.

If the emergency measures had not been taken the number of cases would have risen tenfold and it could easily have spun out of control MIT Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Professor Constantinos Daskalakis told Mega television.

A spate of reports indicated that on 15 March MItsotakis called Ieronymos to pressure him to close all churches but that would require the approval of a mahority of the other 12 members of the Permanent Holy Synod.

Of the total 352, 65 patients are hospitalised in Athens, Thessaloniki and Patras, and of these nine are in Intensive Care Units.

It is in no one’s interest for the economy to shrink again due to recessionary policies and policies that will not facilitate an extremely swift remedy of the major additional wounds that it will suffer from the virus.

The common conviction is that it must be confronted with strong and impassable walls that only communities of citizens can construct by protecting themselves and faithfully enforcing public health restrictions.

Greek foreign ministry spokesman Alexandros Gennimatas reiterated the accusations of the government and some EU leaders that Turkey is using migrants as a battering ram to dismantle Europe’s borders.

'I stand by your side just as I stand beside all those who are in the frontline of this battle: mainly doctors and nurses, security forces and Civil Protection authorities, pharmacists, employees at food stores and in the entire supply chain who keep working so that we all can obtain necessary goods.'

The government has requisitioned all pharmaceuticals and has ordered companies to take a thorough inventory after a steep rise in cases over a 24-hour period.

The stance of the government and infectious diseases (ID) experts is to urge and force Greeks nationwide to hunker down at home until the coronavirus tsunami recedes.

It is now clear that sporadic, piecemeal measures to handle the crisis are akin to offering an aspirin and not effective treatment to the deeply ailing economy.

It should be understood that solidarity and a sense of social responsibility give us an important advantage in responding to the pandemic.

She is known as a moderate, progressive and rights-oriented jurist. As president she has a largely ceremonial role and is required to sign executive order drafted by the government, but the weight of the office consists in the president’s role as a focal point of national unity.

The number of confirmed cases in Greece at midday today was 117. Of these 82 are the aforementioned pilgrims and 25 people who had contact with them.

'Greece does what it does at its borders on behalf of the West,” he declared of Athens’ decision to entirely close its border with Turkey,' Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared.

The enemy dubbed coronavirus is extremely powerful as is evidenced by its rapid spread and its impact, particularly on the elderly.

The issue of whether Holy Communion in churches might transmit COVID-19 as the same cup and spoon are used to offer everyone a small bit of wine and bread, Mitsotakis said that the Church is obliged to follow the same public health rules as others.

A Greek crew member is heard on the video shouting, 'They have broken our rails. [Record] everything on video.' Another crew member said, “They are in our waters and hit us from behind. It has caused damage.”