Greek PM to announce a “one-month action plan” against the coronavirus

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Thursday that he will announce further measures to contain the spread of the coronavirus in the country that faces a second “more aggressive wave” of the pandemic. The measures, the PM described as “action plan” are scheduled for one month..

Speaking at a cabinet meeting via teleconference, Mitsotakis said that the government “must take tougher measures again and more timely in order to prevent the worst, save lives and reduce the pressure on the health system.”

“Tomorrow I will announce a new one-month action plan,” Mitsotakis said stressing that “our goal is to avoid a universal lockdown and we will proceed with a further strengthening of the targeted restrictions.”

He announced that the regional units of Thessaloniki, Larissa and Rodopi in North, Central and North-East Greece, will be upgraded to category “Tier 4” (Red Category). “Most operations will be suspended, except for retail and schools,” he said.

Saying that “Greece is in better position than other European countries,” the PM stressed that the country is “2-3 weeks behind what other European countries experience today.”

“But I have to tell you that the pressure on the health system is greater than ever and we must, as in the first phase where we took action early, take stricter measures again and earlier than other European countries to prevent the worst, to save human lives and reduce the pressure exerted on the Health System,” he underlined.

He did not elaborate on the one-month action plan but he said that “we now know from the tracking processes which economic activities cause a problem of rapid spread of the virus and which do not cause such a large spread of the virus, so we will adjust our plan for next month to the real data. which we have at our disposal.”

He added only that telework must be implemented and that there are already solutions underway for the public transport means.

“The next 15 days are literally crucial,” for the course of the coronavirus pandemic in Greece, Mitsotakis stressed. He added that he will announce the action plan on Friday, October 30, 2020.

Greece registered a shocking surge of coronavirus cases on Tuesday and Wednesday with 1,259 and 1,547 respectively and a record of intubated Covid-19 patients. The number of dead has doubled in October and has surpassed 600.

Some experts advise the implementation of new measures after the beginning of November, where the effects of the night curfew and masks in- and outdoors will show, however, it seems that the earlier precaution is inevitable.