Greece quarantines migrant camp over coronavirus outbreak

Greece has announced the lockdown of a migrant camp with 2,300 people after 20 migrants tested positive for COVID-19. The Ritsona camp in mainland Greece will remain closed for at least two weeks with heavy restrictions and monitoring by police. Greece’s Ministry of Migration said all the people who tested positive to the virus did not show any symptoms. 

Greece recorded its first case of coronavirus in the migrant population last week after a woman who had given birth was diagnosed with the infection in a hospital close to the Ritsona camp. Authorities say the discovery led to the testing of dozens of refugees in the camp, after which 20 of them tested positive.

The outbreak in Ritsona comes barely a week after Greece called for “urgent” EU support to prepare for a possible coronavirus outbreak in migrant camps. Humanitarian organisations had raised serious concerns for migrants living in overcrowded camps on the Greek islands noting their vulnerability to the coronavirus due to the lack of health facilities.

TMP_ 06/04/2020

Photo Credit: Shutterstock/Michele Brusini

Photo caption: Refugee crisis in Greece