Police intensify crackdown Hospital reopens.

The Hellenic Police (ELAS) has stepped up checks on compliance by individuals and businesses with restrictions put in place to curb the spread of the coronavirus. Last Friday, officers carried out 59,882 inspections, recording 560 instances of individuals not wearing face masks or not observing physical distancing in public places. Another 27 violations were recorded by businesses that failed to ensure health protocols were being observed on their premises or defied a midnight curfew. In six cases – three on Crete, two in Central Macedonia and one in Attica – officers imposed 10,000-euro fines on businesses operating beyond the midnight curfew introduced in those areas. Since the beginning of August a total of 7,414 violations have been recorded nationwide for various offenses ranging from failure to wear a face mask in public places to operating businesses beyond designated curfews.

Thessaloniki’s AHEPA hospital reopened on Saturday following a four-day closure for disinfection purposes after 14 medical and nursing staff tested positive for the coronavirus. The AHEPA is now being staffed by employees from other hospitals as its 14 staff members who contracted the virus are in quarantine at their homes. Hospitals around the country are routinely testing all staff returning from vacations to ensure that any carriers of Covid-19 are not exposed to other employees and patients.

Road fatalities. Traffic Police in Thessaloniki over the weekend launched investigations into two road accidents that cost the lives of two men, a 42-year-old and a 23-year-old. The first accident, involving the older man, occurred at 2 a.m. on Saturday on the northern port city’s ring road when the motorcycle he was driving came off the road and crashed into a concrete road divider. The second occurred at 2.15 a.m. on the country road linking Thessaloniki to the coastal suburb of Michaniona. The 23-year-old man lost control of the car he was driving and crashed into a bus stop.