Greek PM: Proposals and guidelines from health experts are still extremely valuable

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis expressed his gratitude to the Health Ministry's committee of epidemiologists for their services to public health in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.

During their video conference on Monday, he stressed that the committee's proposals and guidelines are extremely valuable for drawing out the government's health and prevention policy, and will continue to shape the next steps of the national combat plan against the novel coronavirus.

"From the first moment that this crisis hit our country and our homeland, I personally made the decision to trust the experts, to listen to their suggestions and also to give them - and probably to give you more - an important step of public speaking so that you can inform the Greek society about everything that is happening...I don't need to tell you, you know very well that we have made significant progress in the fight against the first phase of the pandemic, and I think the data of recent weeks confirm that. And, of course, we are always very careful in analysing epidemiological models and being able to make predictions about what will happen from now on."

Speaking of the gradual opening of businesses as having "a far greater degree of difficulty than the measure of lockdowns," the PM praised the calm and calming attitude of the infectious disease specialists, particularly when called upon to inform the Greek public on the pandemic, as professor Sotiris Tsiodras did.

Mitsotakis said the committee's health experts have provided suggestions on how and when to reboot the country's tourism industry, and how to prepare for a possible resurgence of the pandemic in October.

The outcome, he said, is "the great confidence of Greeks in the National Health System" and his personal commitment to ensuring that reliability and effectiveness become permanent features of the National Health System.

"We have every reason, I think, to be content with the fact that as a country we have shown a great deal of responsibility, surprising some who have always rushed to use not-so-flattering stereotypes about our country and our fellow citizens. And I think it's up to us to continue this effort, to reach the end. The end will now be set when we have a definitive cure or a vaccine that will allow us to leave this painful period behind. However, we keep as a legacy the great confidence of the Greeks in the National Health System and my personal commitment, this investment which we make in the reliability and operational potential of the National Health System not to have temporary, but permanent characteristics," the PM concluded.

On Monday, another 10 new coronavirus cases were officially recorded in Greece in the last 24 hours, bringing the total of infections since the start of the outbreak in the country to 2,726.

Of the total infections, 607 are traced to travel abroad and 1,374 to known cases in Greece.

There were no registered deaths since Sunday, while the fatalities since the beginning of the outbreak total 151 (37 were women).

In total, 99,363 tests for the virus have taken place in Greece.