ATHENS – “Open schools can also be a harbinger of an open society,” Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Monday in a Facebook post on the occasion of the start of classes after the holidays.

“Good start with open and safe schools! Despite the difficulties, as everywhere in the world, so in Greece the students return to knowledge and our teachers return to their work. In fact, on the first day of classes, thanks to the system of mass tests, more than 15,000 cases of coronavirus were detected, which, otherwise, would have spread in the community, transmitting the virus much more easily,” Mitsotakis pointed out, adding that “our country is in the first places in Europe in laboratory and self-diagnostic tests.”

According to the prime minister, 94,000,000 tests have been organised and distributed to 7,800,000 citizens so far.

According to scientists, along with vaccinations, the best response to the pandemic and especially to the “Omicron” variant. That is why the public health monitoring programme continue throughout the country, added Mitsotakis, stating that “it is certain that in the coming weeks there will be some problems.”

But – he added – “it will be less than the profit of society, parents and, above all, the children.”

“With the clear but flexible plan of the State, the support of teachers and the understanding of all, today we are taking a step forward. Open schools can also be a harbinger of an open society,” the prime minister concluded in his post.