ATHENS — "It would be a pity, now that we are in the final stretch, to stumble on the last hurdle," State Minister Stelios Gerapetritis said on Wednesday, in a comment on announcements expected to be made by the government and health experts regarding the pandemic measures over Easter.

He also announced the stepping up of inspections to enforce the measures, while at the same time appealing to people to get vaccinated and "build a wall of immunity as soon as possible."

Speaking to public broadcaster ERT1, the minister said that "we should now proceed with the opening of all schools" and said that, in terms of the financial support measures, "where we find that there are issues in relation to the affected categories of our fellow citizens, there will be corrective intervention so to strengthen these categories."

Shortly before the eagerly anticipated announcements, the Minister of State reiterated that "the basis of our philosophy is [that] we listen to the experts, evaluate the current data and make a decision on this basis, with public health as the primary aim."

"Today, indeed, it seems that the time has come for the data to be evaluated. The committee of our doctors will meet, which will make its recommendation on the issues concerning Easter movement, possibly also the road map so that we can open up certain activities in society and the market. The choice we made together, to open certain activities in a controlled way, such as the retail sector and the lyceums, was absolutely successful."