ATHENS — "From the start of the pandemic, there has been a specific plan and a specific strategy," Deputy Minister of Civil Protection and Crisis Management Nikos Hardalias said in an interview with ANT1 TV late on Monday.

He pointed out that a general lockdown is still among the options if warranted by the epidemiological data but should not be resorted to lightly: "Of course there is fatigue, but we evaluate the data every day, the general lockdown is a tool that has been on the table since the beginning of the pandemic, but we have to evaluate it in relation to the real data, because it sounds easy, but behind a general lockdown there are people, there are families," he said, adding that "the cost is high."

"From the first moment, the prime minister has clarified and proved that the issue of human life is above all else," Hardalias said, adding that the government has proved that it does not shunt the responsibility onto the citizens.

"There is a mechanism, the government has itself has provided support at this moment under difficult circumstances, it has given over 26 billion euros. Twenty-one billion euros to support entrepreneurs, individuals, the unemployed and another five billion euros by leveraging banks so that we can emerge as unscathed as possible from this difficult, unprecedented, global, economic and not just health-related crisis," he said.