Lockdown will be extended, minister says

Development and Investment Minister Adonis Georgiadis warned Saturday that strict lockdown measures will persist “well beyond April 6,” the end-date initially announced.

In an interview to TV station Open, Georgiadis praised the public for adhering to the unprecedented restrictions. He said that open markets are functioning as they should, but that additional measures might have to be taken to relieve crowds in supermarkets. He invoked the case of Denmark, where flow direction in each aisle is one-way.

Concerning availability of essential items, Georgiadis said that Greek soap company Papoutsanis has already started producing sanitizers and that imports of masks, including donations, notably from China, have created an inventory of about 2 million masks. He added that a Greek company has offered to produce masks, and that its request is under consideration.

Georgiadis remarked that Greece took draconian measures ahead of several other countries and that these measures seem to work. “Measures restricting movement will last well beyond April 6,” he warned. “They will last until the scientists have assured us we have vanquished the virus.”

[ANA-MPA]