ATHENS — If COVID-19 cases continue to rise at the current rate over the next two weeks, Greece will present a different picture and it will be necessary to re-examine the response to the pandemic, Development and Investments Minister Adonis Georgiadis said on Monday on SKAI radio.

Georgiadis underlined that the good image with respect to the growth of the Greek economy must not be tarnished in the coming years and that all rating agency evaluations must steadily improve, month after month.

On tourism, he said that rate of tourist arrivals in 2021 was higher than in July 2020 and that hotel reservations were "excellent for the months of July and August".

In this context, he said that public finances remain strong but that support of the private economy against damage from the pandemic with additional funding can no longer continue.

He also said that the Delta variant can possibly affect the vaccinated but there is no chance that a vaccinated person will end up in intensive care and he pointed out the need to accelerate vaccinations.