ATHENS – The government expects to hear from medical associations regarding its appeal for private doctors to temporarily assist the public healthcare system in the fight against Covid on Monday evening, at which time there will be a final assessment of the response, government spokesperson Yiannis Oikonomou said on Monday.

Depending on the shortages that remain, the health ministry is ready to begin a process on Tuesday to requisition the services of private doctors for state hospitals, he added.

He also announced that monoclonal antibody drugs would now be available in Greece according to the treatment protocols developed by experts, following their approval by the European Medicines Agency (EMA).

Oikonomou noted that state hospitals currently had 1,277 ICU beds, more than double those available in 2019, while there was already cooperation with the private sector for the hospital treatment of both non-covid and covid cases. He noted that more than 400 beds have been offered by private clinics in central and northern Greece for Covid cases and another 231 for non-covid cases, while all private ICUs were at the disposal of the national health system.