ATHENS, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- Greece's NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo is the protagonist in the government's new awareness campaign for COVID-19 released ahead of the Christmas and New Year holidays.
In a short video, he urged people to play defense against the novel coronavirus and observe the measures, as authorities imposed stricter lockdown in western Attica and the region of Kozani in northern Greece to control the further spread as of Friday.
"Victories start with defense...Currently we must play defense. In the end we can all be MVPs," the basketball player said in the ad.
Although Greece entered a nationwide full lockdown on Nov. 7, the numbers of daily new cases and fatalities in many regions are still high and the measures have been extended to Jan. 7.
On Friday the country's total deaths linked to COVID-19 surpassed the 4,000 mark. With 96 deaths registered since Thursday, the total fatalities now stand at 4,044 since the first case was diagnosed on Feb. 26 in the country, according to the National Public Health Organization (EODY).
With 916 new infections registered within 24 hours, the total cases have now reached 129,584. Furthermore, 527 patients were currently intubated.
As of Friday, a stricter lockdown was imposed until Christmas at the municipalities of Aspropyrgos, Elefsina and Mandra-Idilia in western Attica due to particularly high infection rates in the area.
A night curfew in these areas begins at 6 p.m (3 hours earlier than in other regions) until 5 a.m.
The entire retail sector will be shut down and residents will be rapid-tested en masse.
A similar local lockdown was announced on Friday evening for Kozani which will start on Saturday and last also for a week.
"We make a very strong recommendation, appeal, request to everyone and especially to the residents of these areas to be very careful in the coming days and to observe the measures with diligence," Nikos Hardalias, Deputy Minister for Civil Protection and Crisis Management, told a press briefing, warning that restrictive measures will be tightened in more areas if deemed necessary.
However, the decision for a stricter local lockdown in western Attica has caused reactions, as it was rather unexpected, Mayor of Elefsina Argyris Oikonomou told Xinhua on Friday.
"Residents of this area can understand the situation once officials explain it in a correct manner. Authorities should give us the precise data regarding this area and explain the reasons why they proceeded to local lockdown," he said.
According to EODY's daily report on COVID-19, on Friday 47 new cases were identified in the area within the last 24 hours, which amounts to 29.21 persons per 100,000 residents.
It was the highest concentration rate across the country on Friday with three other regions in northern Greece, including Kozani, and Lesvos island following close.
"This Christmas and this New Year Eve will be and must be different and I am absolutely certain that our fellow citizens will respond with a sense of responsibility and will do what is right. Right for themselves, right for the country," Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Friday during a meeting on the national vaccination plan.
As the world is struggling to contain the pandemic, countries including France, China, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States are racing to find a vaccine.
According to the website of the World Health Organization, as of Dec. 16, there were 222 COVID-19 candidate vaccines being developed worldwide, and 56 of them were in clinical trials. Enditem