ATHENS, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Greece is doing everything possible to protect the health of refugees and migrants across the country during the COVID-19 pandemic, with the support of other European Union (EU) partners, Greek Alternate Minister of Migration and Asylum Giorgos Koumoutsakos said on Thursday.

A total of 1,955 confirmed infections, including 86 deaths, have been registered nationwide since the first case was diagnosed in Greece on Feb. 26, up 71 in new cases and 3 in new deaths since Wednesday, according to the latest official count released on Thursday by the Health Ministry.

Only 28 confirmed infections concerning refugees and migrants have been diagnosed so far in two camps in the mainland, about an hour's drive north of Athens, and no death, Koumoutsakos told a press briefing by teleconference hosted by the Foreign Press Association of Greece.

Currently about 70,000 asylum seekers are hosted in 38 facilities around Greece, according to the data from the Ministry for Migration and Asylum.

More than one million people reached Greece since 2015 from Turkey and continued their journey to other European countries, fleeing wars and extreme poverty until the closure of the Balkan route in 2016 and although arrivals have dwindled, tens of thousands still arrived last year, official statistics showed.

Today some 39,400 are stranded mainly on five Aegean Sea islands in camps which have been overflowing for months, according to latest figures given from the Ministry of Citizen Protection on Wednesday. Moria camp on Lesvos island, for example, now hosts 18,774 people while its capacity is 2,757.

"There are no ideal solutions in emergencies. We have acknowledged on the Prime Minister's level that the situation is not ideal. We are doing whatever possible to protect refugees and migrants, as we are protecting local communities. It is not a favor we are doing, but our duty," Koumoutsakos stressed.

Greece did not have the infrastructures to address the extra pressure from the novel coronavirus epidemic, new camps cannot be constructed and delivered within a short time to help decongest the current ones, but in these difficult conditions, the country is doing everything possible to protect people, with the support of other EU member states, he added.

Despite the enormous new challenge, the government has an emergency plan to prevent and deal with coronavirus cases in refugee and migrant accommodation facilities, Koumoutsakos said, adding "There is a framework. The state mechanism is on alert. We have a clear strategy and necessary actions have been taken."

From early on, refugees and migrants are being given information in their mother languages about the situation, regarding social distancing or the symptoms for the infected, camps are also in lockdown mode as the entire country since March 23 and increased medical aid is available inside camps, he explained.

Due to adverse weather conditions lately, there were no new arrivals from Turkey, but Greek authorities were planning to set up new facilities on the islands, as all new arrivals should be in a 14-day precautionary quarantine due to the virus, Koumoutsakos said, welcoming the aid pledged by the EU to deal with the new double challenge, the refugee, migrant flows and the COVID-19 pandemic.

In March this year, the European Commission pledged the allocation of further 700 million euros to Greece to deal with the refugee and migrant crisis, while an extra 190 million euros will be available via the emergency European support instrument for tackling the COVID-19 crisis once the "green light" is given by the European Council and the European parliament, he noted.

Koumoutsakos also welcomed the Austrian government's pledge to send 181 special containers to Greece for the accommodation of migrants and refugees, as confirmed in a video conference with Austrian Interior Minister Karl Nehammer, he told the press briefing.

Furthermore, Greece welcomed the "symbolic" gesture by Luxemburg and Germany to accept respectively 12 and 50 unaccompanied minors from Greece most likely next week, said Koumoutsakos.

Currently they were 5,240 unaccompanied minors in Greece, Koumoutsakos said.

Asked to comment on how the pandemic affects efforts in addressing the refugee challenge, the Greek official said that currently "everyone was in virus mode and there are delays in all processes...Maybe the virus will strengthen governments' willingness to speed up procedures regarding the refugee crisis." (1 euro= 1.09 U.S. dollars) Enditem

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