New Delhi (NVI): A 61-year-old man from Afghanistan died of COVID-19, the first reported death of a refugee from the deadly contagion in Greece since the pandemic began there in late February.
The man, a father of two children, lived at the migrant camp of Malakasa north of Athens, and died in hospital in Athens where he had been receiving treatment, according to media reports.
However, it was not immediately clear how long he had been at the hospital.
Reportedly, the Malakasa camp, which hosts about 3,000 migrants, has been quarantined since September 7 after positive tests for the new coronavirus.
Many other migrant facilities in Greece have been sealed off or movement has been restricted to stem the spread of the virus.
Greece has been the main gateway into the European Union for people fleeing conflict in the Middle East and beyond. More than a million people reached its shores from Turkey in 2015-16.
At least 110,000 people currently live in migrant facilities – 40,000 of them in overcrowded camps on five islands.
Since the start of the pandemic, 379 people have died of the virus in Greece while the number of positive cases reached 17,444.
-CHK
