Health Minister calls for meeting to assess increase in covid cases

Minister of Health Michalis Hadjipantela said that there has been an increase in COVID-19 cases in the past few days adding that an extraordinary meeting will take place on Wednesday with the Scientific Advisory Committee to assess the course of the pandemic in the next months.

Speaking before the House of Representatives' Committee on Finance, where he presented the Ministry's budget for 2023, Hadjipantela said that the goal is not to reinstate any measures against the pandemic. He noted however that the pandemic is not over yet and that we should remain vigilant.

The Ministry of Health and the public hospitals have proven that they can cope with the pandemic, he told the Committee and expressed the Ministry's readiness to act immediately in case there is further increase in hospitalizations, by involving the private sector, so that there is no need for measures to be reinstated.

The Minister noted that beginning of 2022 the Ministry had to deal with the "Omicron" strain, noting that there was an increase in beds in Intensive Care Units as a result.

"Our goal was not to impose any measures, almost all measures were abolished except for the use of masks in pharmacies and hospitals", he concluded.