A new campaign initiated by the Greek Ministry of Health encouraging citizens to stay home is trending on social media.
“Menoume Spiti,” or “We stay home,” read hashtags from the campaign, which aims to prevent the spread of coronavirus in a nation whose number of cases has surged in a matter of days.
According to official statistics from the Greek Ministry of Health:
- Total cases as of March 13: 190 (Thursday total: 117), another 36 suspected cases being tested
- One death (unchanged since Thursday)
- Of 190, 47 are in hospitals, 5 of them in intensive care
- Age breakdown: 79 cases are aged 40-44, 47 cases are over 65, 7 cases of children/teens aged 0-17
- Geographic breakdown: Athens 85, Ilia prefecture 40, Achaia prefecture 9, Thessaloniki 6, East Attica region 5, Zakynthos island 4 and Kastoria 3.
The campaign gained social media traction as the government announced further precautionary measures including the closure of schools, museums and archaeological sites nationwide.
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced that all parades on the March 25th national holiday have been cancelled.
Greek Health Minister Vassilis Kikilias’ Tweet has received more than 1,000 retweets as other public officials, journalists and celebrities share their own “Menoume Spiti” or “We stay home” messages.
