Greece marks WWII entry anniversary with military parade

THESSALONIKI, Greece — Fighter jets flew implicit the bluish Greek metropolis of Thessaloniki successful an aerial show Thursday arsenic troops marched successful the city’s halfway beneath to people Greece’s nationalist vacation commemorating the country’s ceremonial introduction into World War II.

But immoderate pupil parades traditionally held successful municipalities crossed the state were cancelled, particularly successful parts of bluish Greece which person seen a spike successful coronavirus infections, fueled by debased vaccination rates successful those areas.

Greece’s Oct. 28 nationalist holiday, known arsenic Ochi Day, oregon No Day, marks the time successful 1940 erstwhile Athens rejected an ultimatum by Fascist Italy to let Axis forces to participate Greek territory and instrumentality power of parts of it. The refusal led to an penetration by Italian troops hours later, marking the country’s introduction into the war.

Parades past twelvemonth were cancelled arsenic the state grappled with the coronavirus pandemic. This year, astir were allowed to spell ahead, though Thessaloniki’s subject parade was somewhat pared down, with lone military, occurrence and information forces parading without the information of galore of the civic groups and associations that traditionally instrumentality part. Participants and spectators alike were asked to deterioration masks.

But respective municipalities and regions crossed bluish Greece cancelled parades by schoolchildren amid spiking coronavirus cases.

Just implicit 61% of Greece’s colonisation of astir 11 cardinal has been afloat vaccinated, and lone somewhat much — conscionable nether 64% — has received astatine slightest 1 dose. The state has been seeing expanding coronavirus infections, peculiarly successful parts of bluish Greece, with intensive attraction units opening to capable up.

New cases are astir 2,000 to implicit 3,000 per day, with dozens of deaths and ICUs acceptable speech for COVID-19 patients successful the state are present astatine 77% capacity. On Wednesday, Greece reported 63 deaths and 3,651 caller coronavirus cases, bringing the full decease toll to 15,770 since the commencement of the pandemic, with 728,210 confirmed cases.