ATHENS — Opposition Movement for Change (KINAL), in an announcement on Friday, said that the government delayed in making the decision to requisition private clinics in Thessaloniki and waited until the situation became entirely untenable before taking this step.

"As KINAL leader Fofi Gennimata noted on Thursday, it is impossible for the private sector to not pull its weight in the fight against the pandemic but benefit by charging unacceptable fees, which are tolerated by the government," said KINAL's announcement. It underlined that "the ministerial decision issued on Thursday for the use of private doctors in the National Health System on very favourable terms proves the government's obsession and inadequacy, after failing for eight months to recruit permanent staff in public hospitals."