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Greece Grapples with Dramatic Spike in COVID-19 Infections

Anthee Carassava

   ATHENS - Greece has recorded its biggest spike in COVID-19 infections
   since emerging from a nationwide lockdown three months ago. The
   country's virus-free status -- relative to others in Europe - has
   largely faded since allowing tourists to visit again. But now
   authorities are largely blaming young Greeks for the dramatic rise in
   infections, accusing them of socializing recklessly and not acting
   responsibly. Officials fear Greece is just weeks away from living a
   nightmarish contagion much like that already seen in Italy earlier this
   year.

   For a country that until recently had only about 3,000 COVID-19
   infections, Tuesday's single-day count of 121 new cases set off alarm
   bells.

   It also forced Sotiris Tsiodras, an infectious diseases expert and the
   head of the Greek government's medical response team, to return to the
   public podium, issuing a stark warning 70 days after Greece claimed it
   had successfully flattened its coronavirus curve.

   The situation now, he said, is dangerous and Greeks have to understand
   the severity of it because the fate of this flare-up ultimately hinges
   on them.

   If people behave as they should, Tsiodras said, then they can once
   again quash the curve. But if they do not, then this can easily and
   quickly turn into what he described as an Italy-like calamity.

   COVID-19 infections have been climbing since tourists began trickling
   back into this sun-drenched country in early June.

   But as Greeks too have started seeking summer retreat, they also have
   been loosening up in their compliance with social distancing rules,
   refusing to wear masks at beach bars, restaurants and social
   gatherings.

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