Migrants in Lesbos camp tested for coronavirus

Greek authorities are imposing a 14-day quarantine on the Moria migrant camp on the island of Lesbos after one man who had been living outside the official camp tested positive for the coronavirus.

The overcrowded Moria camp houses 12,714 people, well over its capacity of 2,757.

The Migration Ministry said on Wednesday that 40-year-old Somali man had been granted refugee status and a residence permit to live in Greece, and had left the camp on July 17.

However, he had returned in recent days and had been living in a tent outside the camp fence. He is currently hospitalized in isolation on the island.

The migration ministry said no entry or exit from the camp would be allowed until Sept. 15, while police presence will be increased around the camp to ensure the lockdown is not breached.

Health authorities said the man’s contacts were being traced and all would be quarantined, while extensive coronavirus tests were being conducted on the camp’s residents.

Moria, by far the largest of the camps, had been free of confirmed COVID-19 cases until now.