Eleven Roma settlements in the area of Thessaly will be subjected to rigorous inspections starting later this week to locate and contain possible coronavirus outbreaks, a meeting of health and local officials concluded on Tuesday.
The decision to carry out widespread testing on residents at the central Greek region’s Roma settlements came as Thessaly Regional Governor Kostas Agorastos met with health and viral disease experts and officials, including the heads of two local hospitals.
The meeting comes after dozens of residents at a settlement in Nea Smyrni on the outskirts of the city of Larissa tested positive for the highly infectious virus last week and were placed in quarantine.
Health officials are growing increasingly concerned about outbreaks at such settlements, where residents live in cramped conditions and may not have access to basic sanitation measures.
The inspections will be carried out by teams formed by the National Organization for Public Health (EODY).
