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Greece suspends Qatar flights till mid-June after 12 test positive

June 2, 2020 at 6:48 pm

An Aegean airline aircraft on the tarmac at the airport on April 8, 2020 [RONNY HARTMANN/AFP via Getty Images]

Greece on Tuesday suspended flights to and from Qatar after 12 individuals on a plane from Doha tested positive for the new coronavirus.

The individuals were on a flight carrying 91 people from Doha to Athens that landed on Monday. Tests were carried out for the novel coronavirus and the passengers were taken to quarantine in a hotel, authorities said.

Those who tested positive will be in quarantine for 14 days, and those who tested negative will remain in quarantine for seven days, the civil protection ministry said.

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Those who tested positive include nine people from Pakistan with Greek residency papers, two Greeks travelling from Australia, and a member of a Greek-Japanese family. The suspension will be in place until June 15.

Greece has reported a low number of COVID-19 cases compared to many other European countries and began a gradual easing of a weeks-long lockdown on May 4. By Tuesday, it had reported 2,937 cases and 179 deaths.