The Federation of Dentists will decide whether it requires a rapid test before a patient visits their office, Health Minister Thanos Plevris said on Saturday.
In statements to SKAI TV, Plevris said that the controversial measure of having both a patient and a chaperone do a rapid test before a scheduled visit "was a ministerial decision I found from the start."
The measure, first announced by the media, caused an uproar with dentists, who felt that they were not consulted and who voiced concerns that the measure would further avert reluctant patients from honoring their appointments.
Plevris said that a dentists' representative on the health committee on the coronavirus pandemic attended a relevant meeting on Thursday at which all sides said that the dentists themselves should decide which medical procedures were likely to spread the virus, and require a rapid test for those.
During the interview he said that a total of 70% of the Greek population has been vaccinated against COVID-19, with 80% of those over 60 years of age having done so.
He also said that for school children, there are fewer infections among those aged 6-18 than there were before the physical opening of the schools, which is an encouraging sign.
Schools will shut down however according to protocol if necessary. As a parent of a 12- and a 7-year-old, he said he was personally concerned about "sending our children to schools with the best safety possible."
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