A main event and multiple introductions of SARS‐CoV‐2 initiated the COVID‐19 epidemic in Greece

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a novel responsible for the disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Chains of infections starting from various countries worldwide seeded outbreak COVID-19 in Athens, capital city Greece. A full-genome analysis isolates Athens' hospitals and other healthcare providers revealed variety SARS-CoV-2 that initiated pandemic before lockdown passenger flight restrictions. dominant variant, encompassing G614D amino acid substitution, spread through major virus dispersal event, sporadic introductions rare variants characterized local initiation epidemic. Mutations within genome highlighted genetic drift as emerged. An important variant contained premature stop codon orf7a leading to truncation possibly viral pathogenesis domain. This study may serve reference resolving future lines infection area, especially after resumption connections Athens Greece during summer 2020.