As of Monday, the first day of complete lockdown in Greece, Greek Health Ministry spokesperson and infectious diseases expert, Professor Sotiris Tsiodras confirmed 71 new coronavirus cases, taking the county’s total to 695.

During the press conference, Greek Health Minister Vassilis Kikilias noted that the ministry is “taking all necessary measures to protect the citizens, and even much earlier than other countries.” Many beds in hospitals have been converted to Intensive Care Units.

Kikilias also thanked Tsiodras and his team, stressing that all the data are taken into account by specialist infectious epidemiologists.

Of the 695, 114 are hospitalised, 35 of them in intensive care units. Most of those hospitalised have serious underlying conditions.

Of the confirmed cases, 56% are male, 75% are 18 to 64-years-old and 21% are older than 65-years-old.

The number of fatalities from the novel coronavirus currently stands at 17.

Effective from 6 a.m. on Monday 23rd March, in an attempt to contain the spread of the deadly coronavirus, Greece will go into lockdown.

The Greek lockdown explained. Find out more here.