Greek government's entire planning has one goal: on one hand that the country remains protected from the novel coronavirus until the mass vaccination process is completed and, on the other hand, to have an economic and social road map for the transition to normality and growth," Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis stated at the virtual cabinet meeting on Tuesday, according to ANA.Referring to a … [Read more...]

The first vaccinations will be administered at the designated Covid-19 reference hospitals in Attica on December 27, Marios Themistokleous, general secretary of Primary Health Care, announced on Monday, protothema.gr reports. Earlier on Monday, the European Medicines Agency “gave the green light” for the Pfizer / BionTech vaccine, and now the European Commission is expected to reach a decision to … [Read more...]

Greece's biggest wildlife rescue center ANIMA said it won't make it through 2021 unless it can find new funding after support for the cause from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation ended. The group, based in the Greek capital, said it's treated more than 45,000 animals over the past 15 years and still operates seven days a week despite financial difficulties during this COVID-19 year when priority is … [Read more...]

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has given the “green light” for the release of the BioNTech-Pfizer vaccine within the European Union following the meeting of the competent Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP), protothema.gr reports. This means the European Commission can now instantly license the vaccine for use in the EU market. The Coreper Committee for Medicinal Products … [Read more...]

A campaign to raise public awareness for vaccination against Covid-19 will begin with briefings broadcast live every Monday at 18:00, the Ministry of Health said this weekend, int.ert.gr reports. The live briefings will be organized by National Vaccination Committee Chair Maria Theodoridou and Health Ministry Secretary-General for Primary Health Care Marios Themistokleous. Theodoridou, a … [Read more...]

Greek authorities announced 526 new coronavirus cases in the country Monday, of which 14 were detected following checks at the country’s gateways, protothema.gr reports. The total number of cases is 131,597, of which 52.5% are men. 5,229 (4.0%) are considered to be related to travel from abroad and 38,481 (29.2%) are connected to an already known case. 505 patients are being treated by intubation. … [Read more...]

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) issued the following statement on border closures from the United Kingdom: “This latest situation once again reinforces the urgent need for coordinated recognition of systematic testing of travelers. Governments must cooperate to put the mutually recognized testing capacity in place so that borders can remain open to the vast majority of healthy … [Read more...]

Mytilineos announced the acquisition of a 50 MW photovoltaic project in Spain (Jaen photovoltaic project) by Viridi RE on Monday, ANA reports. The project is situated in Southeastern Spain and in particular in the Municipality of Jaén (Andalusia), an area with significant sunshine. It is ready for construction, which is planned for the first quarter of 2021. The photovoltaic project will be … [Read more...]

Αssociated Press reports from Nicosia that ten months into the pandemic, Cyprus is still trying to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic, despite a relatively safer record than most countries, but seeing more cases and deaths. Hours after announcing tougher measures on arrivals from the United Kingdom, where the Coronavirus has mutated, there were two deaths, even though the number of cases fell … [Read more...]

Signs that COVID-19 has mutated into a new strain in the United Kingdom has led Greece to require arriving travelers from there to undergo a seven-day quarantine, which would affect Greeks visiting or returning home for the holidays. That was announced by the General Secretariat for Civil Protection which said arrivals from others continue to face a 3-day quarantine and as some European Union … [Read more...]

The national health system's doctors and nurses will be the first to be vaccinated against the coronavirus, said National Vaccination Committee Chair Maria Theodoridou at Monday's live briefing on the Greek government's upcoming vaccination program, ANA reports. Theodoridou, a pediatrician at the Athens University Medical School, added that elderly people at nursing homes will be vaccinated next, … [Read more...]

"The epidemiological picture is considerably better in the last few days, but it is absolutely clear that we must be very cautious over the holidays to avoid facing a resurgence of the virus in the first month of 2021," Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said to President of the Hellenic Republic Katerina Sakellaropoulou during their meeting on Monday, in which he briefed her on the course of the … [Read more...]

Olympia Odos CEO Panagiotis Papanikolas on Monday said the company's new system of toll charges based on kilometres travelled that comes into effect on January 1, 2021, will be "a revolution in domestic transport", in statements to the Athens-Macedonian News Agency.According to the head of Olympia Odos, it is a major social investment that will radically change both local and longer-distance … [Read more...]

A futuristic cafe in Singapore has a robot that can cook breakfast for customers in just 20 seconds, protothema.gr reports. The Bowl and Bowl cafe in the central region Toa Payoh of the island serves a variety of tasty Asian rice bowls. Footage records one of the robot pans cooking their specialty fried rice after a customer had placed an order. The robot begins by mixing three eggs inside a pan … [Read more...]

The coastal front in Amfilochia, a town in the northwestern part of Aetolia-Acarnania in Greece was turned into a huge ‘open aquarium’, as plenty of aquatic species filled it, protothema.gr reports. With the north winds blowing, many fish were pulled by currents into the coast. The sea was teeming with tongues, murmurs, leeches, shrimp, skates, very big sea bream, cuttlefish, crabs, even an … [Read more...]

Greece will use its police, Coast Guard, and the Armed Forces to transfer the first batch of COVID-19 vaccines that must be kept at ultra-deep freeze temperatures of -72 Celsius (-161.6 Fahrenheit) for safety and efficacy. The first vaccines approved, from the US pharmaceutical company Pfizer and German company BioNTech, are due to arrive on Dec. 26 and the first shots given he day after, with … [Read more...]

Fearful that COVID-19 can't be stopped – a lenient second lockdown didn't work and vaccines haven't arrived yet – Greece's strategy will now use mass random national testing, for which many had to pay for at private facilities. While the coming vaccine will be at no cost, the New Democracy government hadn't offered free tests that could have detected where the Coronavirus was spreading and there … [Read more...]

A campaign to raise public awareness for vaccination against Covid-19 will begin with briefings broadcast live every Monday at 18:00, the Ministry of Health said this weekend, ANA reports. The live briefings will be held by National Vaccination Committee Chair Maria Theodoridou and Health Ministry Secretary-General for Primary Health Care Marios Themistokleous. RELATED … [Read more...]

Greece registered 901 new coronavirus cases on Saturday, of which 6 were identified at the country's entry points, said the National Public Health Organization (EODY), according to ANA. All cases in Greece total 130,485 of which 5,196 related to travel from abroad and 38,050 to already confirmed infection cases. EODY also registered 58 new deaths, bringing coronavirus fatalities to 4,102 in total. … [Read more...]

Diligent observance of all coronavirus safety restrictions and measures over the Christmas season is essential, said government spokesperson Stelios Petsas in an interview with SKAI TV on Saturday, ANA reports. "It is most important to not let our guard down amid the pandemic, and to keep up with standing health protocols," he underlined, "especially as we are approaching the launch of coronavirus … [Read more...]