Kyriakos Mitsotakis photographed the extension of the lockdown until 15 March.
The exit from the pandemic crisis is now visible, but how quickly we will get there depends on the careful steps we take in the final straight, because we have now entered the final straight, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said today during a teleconference on the donation of 18 portable intensive care unit beds to the public sector by the «Greece 2021» Committee.
Referring to the donation of 18 portable ICU beds, Mitsotakis stressed that «they will be able to be housed in special housing units in any hospital that needs them» and pointed out that their headquarters will be the Papanikolaou Hospital in Thessaloniki, “a key pillar of the NHS, which held and endured especially during the difficult weeks of November and December».
The teleconference was attended and intervened by the Minister of Health Vassilis Kikilias and the President of the Commission «Greece 2021» Gianna Angelopoulou-Daskalaki and from Macedonia, the Governor of the 3rd Health Region Panagiotis Bogiatzidis and the Governor of the Hospital «Georgios Papanikolaou» of Thessaloniki, Maria Yogatzi.
Mitsotakis referred extensively to the development of the effort to tackle the pandemic.
He expressed his optimism for the future saying that with the completion of one year since the pandemic, I think it is up to all of us to turn it into the only pandemic year.
The Prime Minister said that the number of vaccinations this week will reach 1 million, while he acknowledged that there is pressure on the health system, especially in Attica, adding “but I believe that we are managing it, Mr.Minister, very satisfactorily”.
As Mr Mitsotakis said, “the comparison with the data of other countries proves that in our country we are still defending ourselves much more effectively against the third wave of coronavirus, which of course has the characteristic that a strain, the so-called British strain, which has a much higher infectivity, has become dominant.”.
Great fatigue
Mitsotakis also acknowledged that there is a lot of fatigue, but stressed that we have to make one more effort, especially in these two weeks, so that we can return to normal rhythms of the economy and education.
“We will plan it, if we decide to do so, with smart solutions and with a new mutual trust agreement with the citizens: the economy to gradually reopen and all of us to be disciplined to the rules so that it remains open,” he said.
Participants' interventions
In her intervention, the President of the «Greece 2021» Committee, Gianna Angelopoulou-Daskalaki, noted that «the beds will be delivered fully functional in terms of equipment and consumables and interconnected with the hospital, so that they will remain after the end of the pandemic to support the National Health System. And construction as you know is already underway.».
At the same time, Ms Angelopoulou said: «Prime Minister, I would like to remind you once again, as you said: all the revenues of the “Greece 2021” Commission come from society, either through our sponsors or from the sale of the coins of our Monetary Programme. Our aim and our commitment, Prime Minister, is that every last euro of this money will be returned to society through our actions. This is a minimum thank you to all our fellow citizens who support our work, but it is also an obligation of the Commission since its inception.».
For his part, Health Minister Vassilis Kikilias said that the Papanikolaou hospital “is central to our efforts in the National Health System in Northern Greece” and referred to “a national effort to save lives”, stressing that “the Greek government, the Ministry of Health, the doctors, the nurses, all the staff, have been fighting a huge battle all these months”.
Referring to vaccinations, he said that society recognizes how “organized and structured, with respect for the dignity of our fellow citizens and with an effort to avoid inconvenience and to be able to be vaccinated quickly and safely, we are moving forward with our program.”.
In his intervention, the Governor of the 3rd Health Region Panagiotis Bogiatzidis said that from the beginning of the crisis until today, the Papanikolaou Hospital has treated more than 2,000 patients and at the same time more than 280 people were treated in the Intensive Care Units.
The Administrator of the Hospital «Georgios Papanikolaou» of Thessaloniki, Maria Yogatzi, in her intervention, said that “the announcement of this donation and its installation in our hospital is perceived and translated by all of us as a reward for the consistency with which we serve the system”.
SYRIZA: The only one who does not try and continues to be carefree is Mitsotakis
«We inform Mr Mitsotakis, who announced an extension of the lockdown and asked «to make an effort for another two weeks», that the citizens have been trying with enormous sacrifices for a year» comments SYRIZA - Progressive Alliance and adds:
«The only one who doesn't try and continues to be carefree is him and his government who have had the country on lockdown for four months. Careless about prescription tests, about mass transit, about large workplaces, about schools, about private clinic requisitions.
In the end carefree, and when the holiday season comes around, he wonders why there are more cases».
