Significant reduction of pollution in Athens

In particular, based on a comparison of the average daily concentration, values per day for the period March 11, when schools were closed, until March 18, 2020, with the corresponding period of 2019, saw an overall decrease of 11.4 percent in nitrogen dioxide (NO2) pollutants, while for particulate matter (PM10) the reduction was 6.1 percent.

Specifically, for the three-day period from March 16-18, when the government's precautionary measures were intensified, nitrogen dioxide pollutants decreased by 48.5 percent compared to the same period last year, while particulate matter emissions decreased by 48 percent for the same period.

As Konstantinos Arabos, Secretary-General for the Environment and Water, told the Athens-Macedonian News Agency, "we are at war and the government is handling it in the best possible way. The time span, especially in the last three days, is clearly a significant influence on the concentration of pollutants "

According to him, "the restrictions on movement have had a significant effect on [p0llution] rates", however, as he pointed out, "in order to have safe results we need to monitor them over a longer period of time."