Medical staff wait for the arrival of passengers on a plane arriving from Germany in Athens, Greece, on Tuesday. AFP

Greek civil protection authorities have imposed a seven-day complete lockdown on a community in northeastern Greece, after a spike in coronavirus cases there over the past week.

Residents of the Echinos community in the province of Xanthi are forbidden from leaving the area, and are under a 24-hour curfew. They can leave their homes only to buy food or medication, and must wear a mask.

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Only vehicles resupplying food stores and pharmacies are allowed into Echinos, while all other retail businesses have been shut.

The community has been the source of a localised outbreak before too. Authorities said the area had registered 73 new coronavirus cases and four deaths over the past week. Health officials are intensifying testing in the area.

Greece had imposed a lockdown early and has managed to maintain deaths and serious illness from the coronavirus at low levels. On Wednesday, the country announced 55 new cases, the highest daily number for weeks – the vast majority were in Xanthi.

Greece has had a total of 187 deaths and just over 3,200 confirmed cases in the country of nearly 11 million people.

Associated Press