Reax as migrants at Greek shelter test positive

Local residents have expressed concern after Greek authorities announced on Tuesday that 150 people tested positive for the new coronavirus in a quarantined mainland facility housing 470 asylum-seekers from African countries, including many children.

None of the residents, which include families from Congo and Cameroon, have so far displayed symptoms of COVID-19, the disease caused by the new virus.

The rented seaside hotel just outside Kranidi, some 100 miles southwest of Athens, has been quarantined since 16  April after an employee tested positive.

On Sunday, a resident also tested positive for the new virus during a hospital visit for pregnancy complications.

The news came as authorities begin to impose a night-time curfew in the entire Kranidi area, which has some 4,000 residents, and tightened existing movement restrictions to only allow essential shopping and visits to doctors or chemists.

Greece's coronavirus taskforce chief Sotiris Tsiodras said all 497 asylum seekers and staff at the hotel were tested, and out of them 148 migrants and two staff members tested positive.

The hotel is fully equipped with protective clothing, masks and gloves, and has been disinfected, according to the International Orgainzation for Migration.

IOM staff at the hotel include psychologists, interpreters, a legal adviser and a social worker.

Greece imposed an early lockdown to combat the pandemic, and has so far registered a total 121 deaths and 2,401 infections.