ATHENS – Government spokesperson Yiannis Oikonomou assured journalists that the government has a plan for protecting public health during a press briefing on Tuesday, adding that everything necessary was being done in order to ensure a continued strong response to any new facts that arise in order to protect public health and preserve the normality of socioeconomic life in the country.

“A major issue at the beginning of the new year is the ‘Omicron’ variant, which is now sweeping the entire planet and breaking every record for cases in Europe but also in our country. In Greece – where it is already dominant – as in most European countries, it shows unprecedented contagiousness, but – as can be seen from the experience we have from other countries where it arrived first, as well as the initial estimates of our scientists – it causes lower morbidity. It brings tens of thousands of new cases but fewer hospitalisations than all previous variants. To date, it mainly affects young people aged 18 to 34, resulting in a reduction in the median age of new cases to 29 years,” Oikonomou said.

“This new reality indicates – once again – the need to increase vaccination coverage, the use of protection measures – masks and social distancing – but also to carry out frequent tests. Thus, it turns out once again that the unfolding of the pandemic is not predictable but dynamic and constantly changing,” he underlined and added:

“Our reaction – as it was in the previous period – must also be dynamic to deal with it. Flexible, with a constant focus, on the one hand, on protecting public health and, on the other hand, on ensuring normalcy in social and economic life. That is precisely why there is constant evaluation of all the data and the necessary adjustments are decided – following the recommendations of the experts – without the slightest delay.”