A new four-level map of health safety and protection from the novel coronavirus was presented by Deputy Civil Defense Minister for Crisis Management Nikos Hardalias on Friday, along with Digital Governance Minister Kyriakos Pierrakakis.

During a twice-weekly televised briefing on the pandemic's development in Greece, Hardalias said that the plan would be used when local restriction measures need to be implemented, based on the severity of the outbreak in specific locales.

The four levels were announced on Tuesday, and are as follows: 1, preparedness; 2, monitoring; 3, increased monitoring, and 4, increased threat. Each locale's epidemiological level will be reviewed every two weeks, he said, and adjusted accordingly.

Factors determining the level of coronavirus measures will depend on updated epidemiological data, he said, while the safety map provides a consistent application of measures across any of Greece's 74 regional districts.

Meanwhilel, at the briefing, Greece confirmed 391 new confirmed novel coronavirus infections on Friday, with 56 people linked to known clusters and 36 detected at the country's entry points.

The National Public Health Organization announced that all cases since the pandemic arrived in Greece in late February total 21,772 of whom 3,213 are believed to be related to travel abroad and 8,892 to previously known cases.

A total of 98 people are intubated. Their median age is 68 years, 90.8 pct have an underlying condition or are aged 70 or more, and 27 of them are women. 

Another 237 have been discharged from ICUs since the pandemic broke out in Greece.

In addition, one reported death on Friday brings the number of fatalities to 431, of whom 161 were women. The median age of the deceased was 78 years, and 96.5 pct had an underlying condition and/or were al least 70 years old.

The geographical distribution of Friday's 391 new coronavirus cases shows that 161 of these were detected in the Attica region, with notable concentrations in the regions of Thessaloniki (25), Kozani (23) and  Ioannina (23).