Coronavirus: Greece imposes curfew on bars and restaurants amid spike in COVID cases
Those who arrive in the country from land borders will also have to provide proof of a negative coronavirus test.
Tuesday 11 August 2020 20:59, UK
Greece is imposing tougher restrictions following a spike in coronavirus cases.
The government has announced new measures to curb the spread - ordering bars, restaurants and cafes in several regions to shut between midnight and 7am.
Other measures include requiring those arriving in the country from land borders, as well as those flying in from several European countries, to have proof of a negative coronavirus test.
The test must be performed up to 72 hours before entering the country, and Greek citizens are also obliged to present a test.
Every public event where people are standing, such as concerts and performances, is also being suspended throughout the country.
Greece has confirmed 126 new COVID-19 cases in the last day, bringing the total to 5,749.
One more virus-related death also brought the total number of fatalities to 213 amid a surge in daily infections.
Seventeen of the new cases were migrants who arrived on the eastern Aegean island of Lesbos who arrived from the nearby Turkish coast.
On Monday, Greece's culture ministry closed down the Museum of the Ancient Agora - a major archaeological site in central Athens - for two weeks after a cleaner who worked there tested positive for the virus.
Coronavirus cases worldwide have surpassed 20 million and the number of reported virus deaths has climbed to 736,191, according to Johns Hopkins University.
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Around one-fifth of reported deaths, or more than 163,000, have been in the US - the most in the world.
New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern said on Tuesday that four new coronavirus cases had been confirmed in the country for the first time in 102 days.
Cases are also still accelerating in a number of other countries including Indonesia and Japan.
It took around six months to reach 10 million worldwide COVID-19 cases after the virus first appeared in central China late last year, and just over six weeks for that number to double.
Russia announced on Tuesday that it has become the first country in the world to approve a coronavirus vaccine, though experts have expressed doubts about its efficiency.