Update – 11/01/2022
January 11, 2022
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As of the latest update by the Greek authorities, the total number of confirmed Covid-19 diagnosed cases in Greece 1,535,382. 85 new deaths were reported raising the total number to 21,479. The number of patients treated in intensive care units is currently 654. 27,766 new cases were announced yesterday in Greece. 9,971 of the new cases were found in the Attica region and 2,741 new cases in the Thessaloniki region.
Education Minister Niki Kerameus has defended the opening of schools Monday, saying that if they had not opened the 15,500 coronavirus cases recorded among pupils and teachers would have gone undetected.
“Schools opened with more tests in both unvaccinated and vaccinated pupils and teachers, following the enhanced protocols decided by the experts’ committee,” Kerameus told TV station Ant1 Monday.
“One can see the importance of school operation also for health reasons, because if they had not opened we would not have detected those cases.”
Asked about objections to school opening by opposition parties and some experts who had called for a delay, the minister replied that each decision she made was carefully considered and discussed with the experts’ committee, adding that pupils and teachers found themselves in a controlled environment that kept them from further transmitting the virus.
Kerameus added that 5,000 substitute teachers will be hired “immediately” to replace those who have caught the virus.
“Online education will take place whenever a class has to suspend person-to-person instruction. It has happened in the past, it could happen again and will also happen in Florina [the northwestern city hit by a strong earthquake late Saturday]. But in no way can online instruction replace person-to-person education,” she said.
Kerameus said that no classes shut down Monday because of sick pupils or teachers. Reports on self-tests will determine if there willl be any shutdowns Tuesday, she added.
Residents in Greece who were vaccinated abroad can now register themselves as vaccinated on an official Greek website and schedule a booster if necessary.
The anagnorisi.emvolio.gov.gr platform, which was launched on Monday, can be used by holders of the European Covid-19 Digital Certificate or a digital certificate from a non-EU country that has signed up to the EU Covid-19 digital certificate system.
The platform is available in both Greek and English.
Users can log in using their Taxisnet codes, social insurance AMKA number (or PAMKA or PAAPA alternatives) and their ID or passport number. Once they upload a pdf of their original vaccination certificate, the platform will check its validity and extract the vaccination data from it.
A day after completing the process, users can obtain a Greek or European Covid-19 digital vaccination certificate and can also schedule an appointment for a booster through the regular emvolio.gov.gr site.
Non-EU countries and territories that recognize the European Covid-19 Digital Certificate are: Albania, Andorra, Armenia, Cape Verde, El Salvador, Faroe Islands, Georgia, Israel, Iceland, Lebanon, Liechtenstein, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, New Zealand, North Macedonia, Norway, Panama, San Marino, Serbia, Singapore, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Tunisia, Togo, Turkey, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Uruguay.
The opening ceremony of the annual Patras Carnival, hailed as Greece’s most prominent celebration of the festivities in the runup to Lent, has been delayed according to an announcement of the municipal authorities of the western port city on Monday. Apart from the wider epidemiological situation, the announcement revealed that several ceremony participants tested positive.
“Closely monitoring the epidemiological situation in Greece, we have readjusted our schedule to not risk the health of any of our citizens, affiliates, or employees. In recent days, Covid has struck at the participants of the opening ceremony, forcing us to delay the event,” read the official announcement.
A spokesman for Greece’s conservative government has defended its decision to open schools after the winter break Monday despite the leap in coronavirus infections driven by the highly-transmissible Omicron variant, amid data that more than 15,000 children tested positive for Covid-19 the previous day.
During a press briefing Monday, Ioannis Oikonomou emphasized that mass testing – like the screening program for pupils and staff introduced by the government in Greece – was the best intervention strategy for Covid-19 control in the general population regardless of the presentation of symptoms.
The spokesman said that a total of 15,547 children were found positive after mandatory rapid at-home diagnostic testing conducted Sunday, adding that without the screening tests infected children “would be spreading the virus unknowingly.”
Oikonomou also dismissed speculation that authorities were facing a shortage of rapid tests adding that occasional unavailability was due to problems at distribution chain level.
Stressing that the mental health and social consequences of closing schools should also be taken into consideration, Oikonomou said that the government’s expert committee on Covid-19 will meet Wednesday to review progress and examine potential adjustments to the safety measures in place.
As the battle against the coronavirus enters what experts are calling its most decisive stage, the Health Ministry is activating an emergency plan for the national health system (ESY) that entails a series of “fortification measures.”
Kathimerini understands that in addition to the recruitment of private doctors, the plan provides for cooperation with private and military hospitals for the provision of infrastructure and medical staff to ESY. It also entails mergers of clinics in ESY hospitals and staff transfers “from department to department,” but also between the hospitals depending on needs.
The plan is being implemented as the health system’s endurance is being tested by an increase in hospital admissions of patients with Covid-19 and the absences of medical staff due to illness. Indicatively, new hospitalizations rose from 370 a day on average from December 25-31 to 505 on January 1-6. Last Thursday, meanwhile, there were about 2,500 health workers quarantined due to illness.
“The absences of health workers due to illness so far concerns about 1.5% to 2.5% of the total ESY workforce. The percentage is predictable, but it is not catastrophic to the operation of the system,” Deputy Health Minister Mina Gaga told Kathimerini.
Meanwhile, health authorities are expected in the coming days to approve a fourth dose of the Covid vaccine for the immunocompromised. The chair of the National Vaccination Committee, professor of pediatrics Maria Theodoridou, told Kathimerini that at present the committee is not considering a fourth dose for the general population.
Opposition Leader Alexis Tsipras revealed that he has tested positive for Covid-19 in a statement uploaded to social media on Sunday. The SYRIZA leader and former prime minister stated that his symptoms are mild and that his wife and children are still returning negative tests.
“I tested positive during a precautionary PCR test conducted last night. Thankfully, Betty [Baziana, his partner] and the children are negative. I have so far had mild symptoms and I hope that I will soon be healthy,” read the release.
Tsipras had been vaccinated with a third dose on November 13.
In more detail, the 27,766 new cases detected per Regional Unit:
