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' It is part of the Frontex mandate to assist a Member State confronted with an exceptional situation, requesting urgent support with officers and equipment from all EU Member States and Schengen Associated Countries,' said Frontex executive director Fabrice Leggeri.

The parliamentary committee probing possible abuse of power by the ex-alternate justice minister must operate without vindictiveness despite the rage over what was billed as the greatest scandal since the establishment of the Greek state.

In managing the migration and refugee problem everyone has a duty to adopt a similar stance. as there is no room for autonomous actions or personal political strategies.

The Greek government announced emergency measures to counter an “asymmetrical threat” from Turkey which it accused of directing in a coordinated manner the passage of many thousands of migrants to the land and sea borders of Greece.

At the same time state doctors who conducted tests on 383 crew members of a passenger ship anchored off Piraeus, near Athens and 20 tested positive

An estimated 1,000 migrants gathered at the Greek-Turkish border at Evros where the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Konstantinos Floros and Public Order Minister Michalis Chrysohoidis went today to coordinate and oversee security measures with stepped up ground patrols and monitoring by helicopters.

State services are mobilising, the country’s infrastructure appears prepared to manage the situation, and competent civil servants are in a state of readiness.

COVID-19 is threatening to derail international economic growth which was already pressurised by trade tensions, geostrategic uncertainty, and Brexit.

'This virus has pandemic potential,' WHO DirectoTedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said. 'This is not a time for fear. This is a time for taking action to prevent infection and save lives now.”

Nineteen lawyers from Mytilini, the capital of Lesvos, have filed a lawsuit against “all bearing criminal responsibility” detailing acts of violence and egregious violation of police regulations during their operations on the island.

In a world in which countries are ever more closely linked and with neighbouring Italy developing into the China of Europe it was simply a matter of time for the coronavirus to reach Greece.

Understanding these facts about the virus is crucial in Greece which is in a process of recovery after a decade-long crisis and fear is an obstacle in the effort to jumpstart the economy.

Who offered these individuals the status of protected witnesses with immunity from prosecution in order to receive so little –mere rumours – and on whose orders?

The coronavirus threat (the first case in Greece was identified today in Thessaloniki) poses a huge challenge to the National Health System and to what is ostensibly the government’s strong suit – the recovery of the Greek economy.

Greece, which has 11 million people but attracts more than 30 million foreign tourists annually, has identified 13 hospitals across the country for treating infected patients.

The government spokesman did not clarify any particular logical link between the threat of the prospective spread of the coronavirus and the thousands of migrants crowded in the Moria camp, and how closed detention centres would limit it.

The Greek print and electronic media have focused on the need for the public to remain calm and composed in the not unlikely event that cases arise in the country.

Noting measures that the Greek government has taken the foreign minister referred to the relocation of refugees and migrants from the five Aegean islands were they arrive and are concentrated – Lesvos, Chios, Samos, Kos, and Leros - to the mainland.

French Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire told Ta Nea about plans to intensify French investment in Greece in various sectors, from energy to tourism and infrastructure.

G20 finance ministers and central bank governors who met in Riyadh instead of attempting to forge a common effort to manage the coronavirus crisis simply issued platitudinous observations. In the final communiqué of the meeting, which China did not attend, officials merely articulated their commitment to bolster international monitoring of how the epidemic is evolving. Naturally that message did not allay the fears of investors. Yesterday was a “black Monday” for stock markets on both sides of the Atlantic and the Greek bourse collapsed without resistance. The World Health Organisation (WHO) expressed heightened concerns about the sudden rise in incidence and warned about a prospective pandemic. The rapid spread of the coronavirus is undoubtedly linked to the constantly increasing mobility of people and the inter-dependence between countries. The dependencies resulting from globalisation were discussed in Riyadh but of course the participants came up with no answers. In our globalised world major problems require global coordination. The powerful of our planet have a duty to step up their efforts to confront the threat and adopt a unified action plan