For announcements «without logic and without shame», spoke the press spokesman of SYRIZA - Progressive Alliance, Nassos Iliopoulos, about the new measures to deal with the pandemic announced yesterday by the government, speaking to «Real FM 97.8».
«No sense», he said, «because 15 days ago, citizens sitting in the square of Nea Smyrni were getting beaten and fined by the police for no reason and since yesterday the government's line is to be outdoors as much as possible. Because, while already in November - when we mourned 1780 of our fellow citizens - we were shouting that tests should be prescribed, now the government comes, after 5 months of a harsh lockdown, to discover the need for mass tests.» Also, he added, «because we have been saying from the beginning that the 6 and 7pm curfew creates even worse overcrowding, because, in the midst of a pandemic, the NHS has 1680 fewer permanent staff in the last year.».
«But the announcements were also without shame», he said, «because once again, the government has turned the pandemic into a success story» as «in a vulgar way we saw in the briefing of citizens about the pandemic, Mr.Skertsos to essentially make a campaign speech, to promote the success story of the government and blame the citizens and the opposition».
Mr.Iliopoulos stressed that SYRIZA says that today they need protective measures to counter the spread of the virus in the workplace and means of transport, «which the government of the Southwest refuses to take», as well as prescription of tests and every private clinic to join the battle against the coronavirus. «Since the committee of scientists believes that some market activities should be closed, it is the obligation of the government to ensure that all affected workers and entrepreneurs are provided with the necessary financial support,» he added.
Regarding the criticism of the Southwest that the demonstrations are responsible for the outbreak of the pandemic, he stressed that «this is a propaganda argument that is not confirmed either by the data or by the studies». He commented that «it is obvious that at the moment Boeotia, Serres, Giannina, Tinos, Mykonos and Crete are “in the red”, one cannot attribute this to demonstrations». He stressed that «citizens are mobilising because they feel they are being wronged by the government's policies» and underlined that the government «instead of exacerbating the climate with its policies, it should focus exclusively on dealing with the pandemic».
The SYRIZA spokesman argued that «the talk of elections is being heated up by the government itself, because it understands that with its policies the worst is yet to come and the reactions are ahead». «It would be irresponsible, at a time when Attica has no available ICU beds and the health system is at a breaking point, for us to come out and call for elections,» he said, stressing that, instead, SYRIZA is calling for «social salvation measures», such as: the requisition of private ICUs, freezing the bankruptcy code, support for workers, regulation of private debt «to avoid thousands of lockouts and layoffs.».
