ATHENS, June 2 (Xinhua) -- Greece reported 19 new confirmed COVID-19 infections on Tuesday, including 12 people on a flight from Doha, Qatar, which landed on Athens international airport on Monday.

All the 91 people on board were placed in quarantine and all flights from Qatar have been suspended until June 15, Greece's Civil Protection authority announced in a press release.

According to the press release, among the 12 passengers who tested positive to the novel coronavirus, nine are Pakistani nationals with residence permits for Greece, two are Greek nationals from Australia and one Japanese national, member of a Japanese-Greek family.

With the new cases registered within the past 24 hours, the country's total confirmed cases have risen to 2,937, according to another announcement issued by the National Public Health Organization (EODY). The death toll remains at 179, EODY added.

Greece was in full lockdown between March 23 and May 4, but has started to gradually lift the restrictions.

Tourism is the last sector of the economy that is scheduled to go back to business starting on June 15.

As of mid-June, flights from 29 countries with positive epidemiological data, including China, can land on the airports of Athens and Thessaloniki with passengers being subject only to sample testing for COVID-19 upon arrival, the Tourism ministry has announced.

From June 15 until at least June 30, all travelers arriving from an airport on the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) list of affected areas with high risk of transmission of COVID-19 are obliged to test for coronavirus upon their arrival and spend one night at a designated hotel.

As of July 1, international flights will be allowed into all airports and visitors will be subject to random tests upon arrival.

As Greece is adapting to the new normalcy of the COVID-19, authorities continue their efforts to strengthen the public health system.

By early May, Greece had received donations exceeding 89 million euros (99.5 million U.S. dollars) by countries, organizations, enterprises and individuals, the government announced.

The first significant load of medical supplies weighed 18 tons donated by the Chinese government, enterprises and organizations arrived in Greece on March 21. Since then, more donations from China have reached Greece.

On Tuesday, Piraeus Port Authority S.A. (PPA) made one more donation of sanitary material to the program of the Therapy Center for Dependent Individuals "Kethea En Drasi" (Kethea in Action), it was announced.

China's COSCO Shipping acquired in 2016 a majority stake in PPA after an international tender. Enditem (1 euro= 1.12 U.S. dollars)

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