Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis appealed to the public on Thursday to wear masks and comply with health safety regulations so that stricter coronavirus containment measures can be averted, saying that it is a choice between “self-protection and lockdown.”
“The mask is our vaccination until we have a vaccination,” Mitsotakis said in a televised appeal to the public, warning that failure to comply and brings down the number of new infections and hospitalizations will lead to lockdown measures.
“Lockdowns mean closed businesses and unemployment,” Mitsotakis said, warning of the damage to the already beleaguered economy by stricter restrictions and of the impact on society.
“The weeks ahead will likely determine the months and maybe even years to come, so we need to stay a step ahead of the coronavirus rather than behind it,” the prime minister added.
“Managing the pandemic is not a pendulum that swings from total lockdown to total complacency,” he said.
Seven people have died today, due to the coronavirus pandemic. The latest victim was a 68year old male in Thessaloniki. The death toll has now reached 364. The number of coronavirus cases in Greece today reached 342.
Health Minister Vassilis Kikilias met on Thursday with the competent representatives of the parliamentary parties, in order to brief them on the developments regarding the coronavirus and the readiness of the health system.
Migration and Asylum Minister Notis Mitarachi on Thursday announced that two hosting facilities for migrants and refugees on Lesvos are to be shut down. The two facilities are the one operated by the Mytilene municipality at Kara Tepe, which will shut down on December 31, and one housed in the PIKPA facilities south of the town of Mytilene, which will shut down on October 31 and be handed back to the labour ministry to operate as a children’s summer camp.
At the same time, the municipality of Mytilene will be responsible for finding an area to build a new reception and identification centre for migrants and refugees with the capacity to house up to 2,500 people.
Europe has the opportunity to have a resilient, united, ambitious migration policy,” European Commissioner for the Promotion of Our European Way of Life, Margaritis Schinas, said on Thursday, presenting the new Pact on Migration and Asylum to the Committee on Civil Liberties of the European Parliament in Brussels.Στον εισαγγελέα Πρωτοδικών αναμένεται να οδηγηθούν αργότερα σήμερα οι δυο άνδρες ηλικίας 38 και 42
A body discovered this afternoon at the Magoulitsa bridge, at the Municipality of Mouzaki in the Prefecture of Karditsa, belongs to the 43year old woman, who was reported missing since last Friday night, when the area was severely hit by the Ianos storm.
Archbishop Elpidophoros of America on Thursday thanked US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for a meeting in at the State Department in Washington.
According to reports, the meeting addressed ongoing developments in the Eastern Mediterranean, while Elpidophoros expressed his concerns about Christian minorities in Turkey and about the recent conversion of the Christian basilica and museum of Hagia Sophia into a mosque.
“As we have already said, the agreement on the resumption of exploratory contacts is a positive step. Of course, as Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis stressed yesterday at the summit of the European People’s Party, there has to be continuity and consistency from the Turkish side,” government spokesperson Stelios Petsas said on Thursday during a press briefing.
He added that “the agreement proves that the government’s approach at the operational and diplomatic levels has paid off. Because from the first moment the government made it clear that it is ready for dialogue but not under a regime of threats and blackmail.”
Sunny in Attica tomorrow, with some scattered clouds expected in the afternoon. The temperature will reach a maximum of 31 degrees Celsius.
