Government freezes plans for new restrictive measures due to pandemic fatigue
The Greek government is temporarily freezing plans to introduce new measures to halt the spread of the novel coronavirus in the country citing people’s fatigue with the protracted public health emergency, government spokesman Stelios Petsas said on Friday.
Speaking to broadcaster SKAI, Petsas said no measures will be announced on Friday, as it was widely expected.
The new measures that health authorities were expected to announce on Friday would target the region of Attica, where the majority of new cases remain concentrated, amid a new spike in infections.
As the spokesman explained, the measures the government is implementing now are “too many.”
“Burdening continuously the population with [new] measures and not focusing on their faithful observance will be problematic and possibly backfire,” he said.
Petsas pointed out that Greece has an increase in new cases like other countries, but the situation remains stable. He admitted that “there is a pressure in Attica,” but the Health Ministry is increasing the number of intensive care units.
“Today we see a lot of cases originating from the workplace,” he said and added that one of the measures the government will consider if there is “an outbreak” of new infections is the mandatory use of face masks outdoors.
