From this morning, at 06:00, new restrictive measures come into force in Greece in order to halt the course of the highly contagious "Omicron" variant of SARS-CoV-2. Specifically, according to the specification of the measures made on Wednesday by Health Minister Thanos Plevris:
Catering and entertainment establishments will operate until 12 midnight with no music, 6 people per table, no standing and metric distance to table seating. The exception is New Year's Eve, when establishments will be allowed to operate until 2:00 a.m., but with all of the above prohibitions. Among the prohibitions is the ban on holding a party in a public or private place, in order to avoid the transfer of entertainment to other places.
The use of high protection masks (FFP2/KN95) or double masks in supermarkets, on public transport and where it is crowded, as well as by restaurant workers, is compulsory.
Implementation of teleworking in the public and private sectors up to 50% and rolling hours, depending on the capacity of each service.
Visiting hours only with a 48-hour PCR test in elderly care facilities and hospitals, while medical visitors are prohibited in nursing homes.
In stadiums, the occupancy of vaccinated spectators will be up to 10% of capacity, with a spectator cap of 1,000 people. If the measures are not complied with, matches will be played behind closed doors.
It is noted that the committee of experts met on Wednesday and recommended that the restriction measures be implemented from 06:00 on Thursday morning 30 December, not from 3 January as announced.
The measures will come into effect from today until January 16.
Further, in detailing the measures, the Health Minister said that the NHS is basically treating patients with the "Delta" mutation and is under pressure, and taking into account all factors, such as the over-transmission of Omicron, an agreement has been reached with the private sector to support the system if needed.
In the community, the "Omicron" mutation is predominant, Plevris noted, and urged people to be particularly careful and get vaccinated.
In fact, he stressed that vaccines cover the "Omicron" mutation and vaccination coverage of the population has recently gone up by 10 points. The percentage of people over 60 years of age who have had the booster dose or have made appointments exceeds 90%.
The minister pointed out that the younger generations, 18-30 years of age, who are basically asymptomatic, are mainly affected at the moment.
He recommended that anyone who has the slightest symptom or has been exposed to places with high confusion should behave as a carrier. At family tables, tests should be done.
He further said that the government will re-evaluate the whole framework both in terms of the compulsory nature of vaccinations and the time the certificates will be valid.
In conclusion, the minister noted that the data makes us optimistic about the course of the pandemic, but does not lead us to any complacency.
Source: AMP
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