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| - Authorities in central Greece have placed a Roma settlement under a two-week quarantine after discovering several coronavirus cases among its inhabitants. The move came late Thursday after 20 out of 29 people tested in the Nea Smyrni settlement near Larissa, 354 kilometres (220 miles) north of Athens, tested positive for the virus. "There will be tests throughout the area that is under lockdown," local governor Costas Agorastos told Proto Thema daily Friday, adding that screenings would also be carried out in other Roma communities in the area. An additional 200 people in the community were tested Friday, state news agency ANA said. The civil protection authority has not reported the result of the tests. Yiorgos Vassilopoulos, a senior medic at Larissa hospital, warned that the facility would be "overwhelmed" if early contagion rates in the community are confirmed. "The initial screening showed a contagion rate of 60 percent," Vassilopoulos told state TV ERT. "In an area with 3,000 residents, that's 1,800 people," he said, adding that the local hospital can field fewer than 70 beds for coronavirus cases. Roma "live in close quarters and travel larger distances", Vassilopoulos said. Officials said a migrant camp in the area would also be quarantined as a precaution. The country of 11 million has confirmed 1,955 coronavirus cases. Eighty-six people have died and another 79 are in intensive care. The Greek government has reinforced highway and port controls to keep the public from travelling to the countryside and islands ahead of Orthodox Easter celebrations on April 19. str-jph/jh
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