ATHENS – “The coronavirus cases in private clinics and refugee facilities over the last few days unfortunately confirm the inefficiency of the government,” main opposition SYRIZA said in a statement on Friday, adding that the government only intervenes when it is too late.

The government failed to take any measures at the clinic in Peristeri, the party said, although the National Public Health Organisation (EODY) has been aware of the cases since Wednesday. Therefore, it called on the health ministry to provide explanations.

In the announcement, SYRIZA pointed out that the party has “from the first moment, been sounding the alarm over the special care, with preventive measures and systematic controls, that must be taken by the health ministry in areas of vulnerability, such as refugee facilities, Roma camps and care homes.”

“Public health cannot be left at the mercy of careless, risky practices…at some point the government must finally realise that beyond the individual responsibility of the citizens, to which it resorts when in difficulty, the primary responsibility is that of the State,” the main opposition concluded.