Athens is raising the alarm level sharply in view of Christmas, adopting the corresponding practice of many countries in the last twenty-four hours, as the "Omicron" variant exceeds in transmissibility all the known mutations of the coronavirus. Following the lockdown in the Netherlands, London canceled all festivities yesterday, with schools, gyms, bars and casinos temporarily closing in Quebec, Canada, due to the rapid spread of the new variant.
Considering that it is a matter of days for Greece to experience the full spread of the "Omicron" variant, possibly in January - as its cases double every 2 to 3 days, according to the President of the National Vaccination Committee, Maria Theodoridou - new health restrictions is ready to activate the Maximos Palace, in order to maintain control of the coronavirus spread at combative levels, despite the festive atmosphere.
Scientists decide
The "green light" for the activation of the extraordinary government plan for the holidays is expected to be lit today - the meeting of the Committee of Experts (at 10 in the morning the subcommittee and then at 1 in the afternoon the Plenary) of the Ministry of Health - with the relevant announcements by the government should not be ruled out during the day. At 11 a.m., after all, the cabinet meets, during which the guidelines of the new package of measures may be reflected, from which the possibility of a general lockdown is categorically excluded.
"Festive" restrictions
Every second thought in this direction was rejected, after all, yesterday by both the Minister of Health, Thanos Plevris, and the Minister of Development and Investment, Adonis Georgiadis, leaving, however, an open window for additional, "festive" restrictions. In addition to the lockdown, away from government plans to tighten restrictions remain, according to Government Spokesman Giannis Oikonomou, traffic, financial activity and opening hours of stores, as in these areas of activity on holidays "we go as we are, with the existing framework ", he stressed.
Rapid test at New Year's Eve
On the other hand, the measure of showing a negative Rapid test certificate for entering indoor areas during the New Year's Eve, that is a measure that concerns the vaccinated citizens, seems extremely probable. Speaking to Mega, Mr. Economou said that "we are only looking at those who on New Year's Eve or Christmas Eve, we will see, I do not want to go ahead, the Commission will probably say to the New Year, except that only vaccinated people are allowed to go indoors, to be equipped with the results of the rapid test ".
The thought
The choice of this "emergency" measure aims to "ensure even more themselves and everyone around that the space will be as" sealed "as possible, from the risk of having someone there who will get sick", in order to avoid , according to the Government Spokesman, the over-transmission of the virus. At the same time, conducting a diagnostic test as a prerequisite for entering indoor areas is estimated to contribute to the general tracking of the community to a large extent, to record the current epidemiological picture of the country, which is a demand for scientists at this stage.
"Photo" of the pandemic
In this direction, the Minister of Health, Thanos Plevris revealed yesterday that "what we wanted was for a test to be performed on the entire population, in order to see the real picture". "While we called the world, unfortunately there was not the response we would have wanted in the weeks of free testing," he said, leaving open the possibility that "at some point we will have an overall epidemiological picture of the country - for both the vaccinated and the unvaccinated."
Faithful observance
At the same time, the Government Spokesman reiterated yesterday that "it is very important to follow the measures and the recommendations and beyond that we make further point interventions in things that everyone understands that there is an increased possibility of creating a problem", as he noted, acknowledging the cost of the Rapid test for New Year's Eve that "is a burden. "Every charge is unpleasant." Mr. Economou, however, countered that "I think we need this extra security for this one day only" and reminded that the ceiling applies to the prices of diagnostic tests.
Constant vigilance
The tightening of the restrictive framework in view of the holidays, although "extraordinary", may not prove to be the end, as scientists around the world are sounding the alarm about the rate of spread of the "Omicron" variant. "We have to monitor the data and be ready to adapt our strategy to deal with what will happen," Oikonomou said yesterday in the wake of the new year, as areas such as Quebec resume teleworking and distance learning.
In addition to the New Year's Eve measure, the controls during the holidays will be intensive, as it is necessary - especially at this time - the respectful application of all existing measures is considered, in order to prevent over-transmission of the virus.
In particular, the critical period for the sweeping checks is defined as this from Christmas Eve (December 24) to New Year's Eve (December 31), while their range will be such that they will come out "possibly, whatever scales have come out in total in throughout the pandemic ", as described by the Minister of Health, Thanos Plevris, referring to" sweeping "controls.
Addressing a stern warning, he stressed that "the store that will think, will think not to follow the measures and to have even one person inside, who will be unvaccinated, at any time, 2:00, 3:00, 4: 00, 5:00, to know that he will regret it bitterly. "I say it so simply," he concluded.
During the holidays, 10.000 police officers will take part in the "safari" of controls for the implementation of the sanitary measures, in a giant operation of guarding the public health, in order to delimit any mass spread of the virus, both on New Year's Eve and those that mediate of them.
In this context, "the Greek Police, in fact, all this time carries out 95% of the checks. It has taken on a lot of weight and the same will be done by the men and women of ELAS, with self-denial, in the next festive days "described the Minister of Civil Protection, Takis Theodorikakos, announcing that" ten thousand police officers will be on the streets all this the period, daily, from now until the days of the New Year, all the festive days with a double mission: The order and the security and at the same time the implementation of the measures against the coronavirus epidemic ".
Preventing the worst, the invitation to a New Year's Eve party of 8-10 people at most and with the confirmation of a negative Rapid test in their possession was suggested by the President of EINAP, Matina Pagoni to the citizens, pointing out that "if we really want to be safe and have fun at the same time, "I think a test is not that difficult," she said.
In addition, in the new package under development in the last hours, the recommendation of the use of the mask outdoors and indoors is still being examined, as well as the increased tests for non-vaccinated citizens, while the measure of the mandatory measure has been implemented since last Sunday. negative (PCR / Rapid) test for those entering Greece.