Update – 28/04/2021
April 28, 2021
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As of the latest update by the Greek authorities, the total number of confirmed Covid-19 diagnosed cases in Greece is 337,723. 92 new deaths were reported raising the total number to 10,179. The number of patients treated in intensive care units is currently 813. 3,313 new cases were announced yesterday in Greece. 1,518 of the new cases were found in the Attica region and 418 new cases in the Thessaloniki region.
Greece has been honored with the “Global Champion Award for COVID-19 Crisis Management” by the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) while the country moves toward lifting more restrictions beginning on May 3. The award, which commends Greece as a global example for the safe opening of the tourism sector during the pandemic, was received by the Minister of Tourism Haris Theoharis at a special event during the WTTC’s annual conference, held this year in Cancun, Mexico.
“The ‘Global Champion Award for COVID-19 Crisis Management’ is awarded to the entire Greek tourism industry. The WTCC recognizes the immense effort to which the employees, entrepreneurs and all those involved in the provision of tourism services have contributed, in an unprecedented success for Greece”, Theoharis said in his speech.
The Tourism Minister pointed out that the award seals the fact that it is no accident that the brand name “Greece” has emerged as a synonym for safe and carefree holidays.
“We have managed to keep alive the hope for millions of people around the world, proving in practice that health safety can be achieved. And safety can, in turn, make travel possible, even in a state of siege from the pandemic,” he declared at the awards.
Travel between regions allowed, sms measures remain in place
After six full months of a travel ban between regions in Greece, the restriction aimed at preventing the interregional spread of Covid-19 will be finally lifted on May 3, Easter Monday.
While the hospitality sector is also scheduled to open on the same date, the nightly curfew, although slightly extended until 11:00 PM, will remain in place — and so will the SMS for citizens’ travel outside their homes. The latter will nonetheless be done away with once the country opens for tourism in mid-May.
In the meantime, restaurant workers will be exempt from the 11:00 curfew to allow them enough time to return home.
Covid vaccination opens to all those from 30-49 in Greece
In another development, the vaccination platform opened on Holy Tuesday for yet another age group, those who are from 30-39. The first 60,000 appointments have already been confirmed, as Digital Governance Minister, Kyriakos Pierrakakis, stated to ANT1 TV.
“The platform opened late Monday for those in the e-prescription system, while on Holy Thursday it will be the turn of citizens aged 40-44 and on Holy Saturday for those aged 45-49,” Pierrakakis said.
Recently, the government also offered the flexibility to citizens to get their second shot of the vaccine in a different city in Greece, as an effort to speed up the ongoing national inoculation process against Covid-19.
A plan that stipulates the vaccination of people in the 80-89 age group is under consideration, according to the deputy minister to the prime minister, Akis Skertsos. Speaking to state-run ERT TV on Tuesday, Skertsos noted that the vaccination rate in Greece is the European average and stressed “we can do even better,” referring to the home vaccination plan. He added that the first dose of the vaccines has already been administered to 25% of the population and that 10% has also completed both, adding that the vaccination of younger ages is accelerating.
“Thousands of 30-somethings are booking appointments,” he said, while predicting a wall of immunity at the end of the summer. “We are already seeing a de-escalation in the hospitals,” he said.
More than 60,000 appointments for the AstraZeneca vaccine were booked by people aged 30 to 39 on the first day, after Greece’s emvolio.gov.gr coronavirus vaccination platform opened on Monday night to that category, which will only be receiving the British vaccine.
Speaking during the Health Ministry’s regular public briefing on Tuesday afternoon, General Secretary for Primary Healthcare Marios Themistokleous hailed the first-day results and said that availability for the jab is so great people are getting next-day appointments to receive the first dose. “The fastest vaccine is the best vaccine,” he said.
The head of the National Vaccination Committee, Maria Theodorou, meanwhile said that citizens wishing to be immunized faster can arrange to have the second dose of the vaccine administered as early as eight weeks after the first, instead of waiting the customary 12 weeks.
The AstraZeneca vaccine – which is still regarded with some skepticism by some members of the public due to concerns about blood clotting – will also be used for 40-44-year-olds, who will be able to start booking their appointments on the platform as of Thursday.
All four available vaccines will be used for the next group, aged 45 to 49, who will have access to the platform as of Saturday.
In more detail, the 3,313 new cases detected per Regional Unit:
