Author: Kavala.com

Only 220 of the country’s total 1,220 intensive care beds at public hospitals were available on Friday morning, according to the Greek Health Ministry, with the availability rate for both CoViD-19 and non-CoviD-19 beds at only 18 percent. In terms of ICU beds for non-CoViD-19 patients, the ministry reported that only 124 of 569 (or 22 percent) are still available across the country. The situation is even worse for beds reserved for CoViD-19 patients, with only 15% availability, as 555 of a total of 651 beds are occupied. In northern Greece’s Thessaloniki, Halkidiki, Katerini, and Kavala, where the second wave…

To commemorate the Greek National Holiday on October 28, 2020, a massive Greek flag was “flown” last night on a building wall in Kavala, one of Greece’s regional units. Costas Antoniadis, Deputy Regional Governor of Kavala, organized the video projection. The Athens Municipality also lit up the Omonia Square fountain in blue and white. Kostas Bakoyannis, the Mayor of Athens, shared a photo and a video of the illuminated fountain on social media. He wrote, “In the colors of Greece.”

Citizens’ Protection Minister Michalis Chrysochoidis announced the recruitment and stationing of 100 new border guards in Kavala. He described the move as part of an effort to “protect the region from illegal immigration and crime.” The announcement was made during his weekend visit to the northern Greek town. “Our priority is to zero inflows. We have already made a very big operational effort in Evros. At the moment, a project is being carried out that aims to electronically shield our border surveillance with radar, cameras and all the necessary means, so that there is a very clear picture at the…

Today is the 107th anniversary of Kavala’s liberation from Bulgarian occupation troops, as well as its patron saint, St. Paul the Apostle to the Nations. The procession of the holy icon of Saint Paul in the main streets of the city did not take place this year due to the CoViD-19 special conditions, and the established Vigil service will not take place in the ruins of Basilica I in the archeological site of Philippi. At this location, St. Paul preached the Holy Gospel for the first time, establishing the first Christian church in Europe and Greece. Metropolitan Stefanos of Philippi,…

Museums throughout the country will reopen on Monday, June 15, 2020, with strict safety precautions in place. The reopening of a wax museum in the northern Greek city of Kavala will be marked by the unveiling of an effigy of one of Hollywood’s most beloved actors and honorary Greek, Tom Hanks. The Hanks wax statue will be the 31st exhibit to open at the Theodoros Kokkinidis Wax Museum in Kipia, Kavala. “Being in lockdown at home seemed to have a creative effect on me,” Theodoros Kokkinidis told ANA-MPA. “I spent this time designing a wax effigy of the philhellene and…

Fixed taxi fares to and from Athens, Thessaloniki, and Kavala airports to city centers have been reduced, in line with broader cuts in public transportation fares implemented on June 01, 2020. According to the Transport Ministry’s announcement, taxi rides from or to Athens International Airport (AIA) in Attica will now cost €35 (down from €38) between 05:00 and 00:00 and €49 (down from €54) between 00:00 and 05:00. The fares are for a ride between the AIA and locations within Athens’ traffic restriction ring (“daktylios”). Similarly, taxi rides to and from Thessaloniki International Airport are now €18 (down from 20)…

According to local media, health officials quarantined a refugee camp in Nea Kavala on Thursday after a pregnant woman tested positive for CoViD-19. Teams from the National Organization for Public Health (EODY), as well as infectious disease expert Sotiris Tsiodras from the Health Ministry, are testing all residents at the camp. Due to the new infection, Peonia mayor Kostas Sionidis ordered the closure of six schools in the area where refugee children attend classes. According to Sionidis, most of the children attend afternoon classes, but some have enrolled in morning classes. The municipality has dispatched cleaning crews to disinfect the…

Thousands of Christians of all denominations from all over the world visit Kavala, Greece, throughout the year to commemorate the memory of a woman whose name went down in history as the first European and Greek Christian. As the first woman to be baptized by St. Paul, the Apostle to the Nations, when he first set foot on European and Greek soil, responding to the call of a Macedonian man who urged him to “Come over to Macedonia and help us” (Acts 16:9) to spread the message of the Gospel and the new religion on the old continent. Lydia or…

A 330-kilogram basking shark (Cetorhinus maximus) was caught by fishermen off the northern port city of Kavala. The basking shark, also known as the “pilgrim shark” in Greece, is the second-largest living shark after the whale shark and one of three plankton-eating shark species, alongside the whale shark and the megamouth shark. Adults can grow to be 7.9 m long. Its skin is usually greyish-brown and mottled. The story sparked minor debate in the local community, with some praising the fishermen for a great catch and others objecting because it is a protected species. It was unclear whether the shark…

Austrian Airlines announced on Wednesday that direct flights from Vienna to the northern Greek city of Kavala and the island of Samos will begin in 2020. The announcement was made at a special event in Vienna co-organized by my Austrian Holidays, Austrian Airlines, and the Greek National Tourism Organization in Austria, where it was highlighted that the new routes bring the total number of direct flights between Vienna and Greece to sixteen. Notably, there are currently no other low-cost direct flights connecting Vienna to either Kavala or Samos, despite the fact that Greece remains a popular vacation destination for the…