Greece locks down migrant hotel after virus outbreak

Greece quarantined a migrant hotel and a nearby town on Tuesday after 150 people tested positive for the new coronavirus.

A total of 148 asylum seekers staying at the beachfront hotel and two staff members tested positive but are asymptomatic, said Nikos Hardalias, deputy minister for civil protection.

The town of Kranidi -- some 166 kilometres (104 miles) southwest of Athens -- would be put under a two-week quarantine and a night-time curfew, Hardalias said after an emergency meeting with local officials.

He said there were "many children" among the 470 asylum seekers at the hotel, which lies about five kilometres from Kranidi.

 

The asylum seekers hail from sub-Saharan Africa, according to the migration ministry, which said a pregnant woman from Somalia was the first resident to test positive.

A hotel employee had earlier tested positive for the virus but had not gone to work for the past 12 days.

The hotel was locked down on April 16 but residents had previously moved freely to nearby shops and banks, local mayor Yiannis Georgopoulos told state TV channel ERT.

"All those who came into contact with (the asylum seekers) will be tested tonight," Georgopoulos said.

The UN's International Organization for Migration, which has responsibility for the asylum seekers, said it had "interpreters, psychologists, social workers and legal counsellors... in constant contact with all stakeholders to support in this challenging situation".

Some 100,000 migrants and refugees are currently stranded in Greece with few options for onward travel after other European states closed their borders to asylum seekers in 2016.

Migrant camps in the country have been under quarantine in recent weeks with authorities trying to keep residents apart from locals.

Two camps on the mainland have registered cases.

The ministry this week extended the camp lockdown to May 10.

The virus has so far killed 116 people in Greece. Another 61 are in intensive care.