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“The Greek state honestly addressed to Greek citizens. A new relationship of trust was built between the State and the citizen. “Greece has become an international example for its defense against the first wave of this health crisis,” said the prime minister at the beginning of his speech, noting that “the threat is spreading throughout the world again, the battle continues in our country”.
«We strengthened the health system and we continue to do so, ”he said, adding that the government also supported affected homes and businesses.
“At the governmental level, our cooperation with all scientists, specialists in infectious diseases, continues to be daily,” he continued.
The Prime Minister again praised citizens for the individual and social responsibility they demonstrated, saying that the same responsibility and discipline that we still need today.
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At this point he headed appeal to the opposition “Let’s not allow ourselves to turn this debate into a fruitless political controversy.”
«Coronavirus is not suitable for easy rhetorical crowns. “Today, truth and joint action are paramount,” he said, adding:
“Everyone in this room must be on top of each other versus logic. Because the coronavirus acquires new ways of spreading, different characteristics. Until the vaccine is found, the political forces in this House have an obligation to agree on a minimal common ground. “Decisions are made on the basis of public health and assuming that decisions are quick.”
Continuing, the Prime Minister pointed out that he points out “that despite the fact that the vast majority of citizens comply with the orders of experts, there are small minorities of irrationality that often reaches the limit of paranoia “and added:
“We have the obligation to confront responsibly and, at least, these sources of irrationality and support the basic political options that the experts impose on us. For example, the mandatory use of mask that at this stage of the pandemic it is the safest means of being able to protect ourselves, our loved ones, without suffering the negative consequences of a greater restriction of economic activity “.
Then the Prime Minister began to reply 10 questions about the pandemic.
1. How successful has the pandemic been managed?
In terms of review that “we did well in the first wave of the pandemic while in its recurrence we did not,” Mr. Mitsotakis said thatIs wrong listen to those points of view. This is not true”.
“The answer is evaluated through a single measure, the real protection of citizens. The cases, the amount of lives that were unfortunately lost and the spread of the virus in the territory. Greece, six months after the outbreak of the disease, has 286 deaths with an average age of 78 years. That is, those who cried every day for six hours in countries that were much more affected in the first phase of the pandemic. We have 11,542 cases, we are in position 111 in deaths per million citizens. Four times below the world average loss. We have managed with everyone’s help to avoid the millions that stalk other states. “We put strong brakes on the phenomenon of the uncontrolled spread of the virus,” he said.
“The truth is – we have said it repeatedly – that we expected a reasonable increase in cases from the moment our economy would reopen. Not only in tourism but in any economic activity. He had said it many times, everyone anticipated that it would happen in all the countries of the world, “said the prime minister, adding:
“Obviously we couldn’t stay in an eternal confinement and obviously the gradual opening of economic activity it would allow the virus to spread further. The challenge has been and continues to be to identify and control these cases. And this is done and all the evidence proves it. “Greece managed to do it in the first wave and it still does it even now.”
“It just came to our knowledge then how will we not be victims of our successHe said, adding, however, that we should not be complacent about our success.
“With everyone’s help, we have managed to avoid the millions who stalk other countries and forcefully stop the phenomenon of the uncontrolled spread of the virus,” he said.
“In the last seven days we have seen again that the data shows a balance, possibly a slight decrease. It is not a cause for complacency. “
- Could it have been tracked differently?
“We have aligned ourselves with this, to live with the virus with extremely limited cases. Thank EODY, the Civil Protection executives, all those who support the monitoring system. It is a very difficult and arduous job, ”he said, adding:
“It turned out that hopes of tracking via mobile phone were dashed. We do not leave any orphaned cases, it is the only proven way to deal with the outbreak of the pandemic. “
- What tactics should we follow?
Referring to the voices that spoke of a different approach to dealing with the coronavirus pandemic, he brought the example from Sweden and after citing the epidemiological data of the country, he stressed that a country does not even win economically by letting the virus out of control.
- Is resumption of all activities a return to pre-coronary normality?
“It just came to our notice then. We went from a nearly complete lockdown to a gradual opening. We went to ‘keep safe.’ There is no room for misinterpretation, but there are some misunderstandings in bad faith, by some who tried to take advantage of the increase in cases.
Normal life as we remember it it won’t come back quickly or automatically. It is not pleasant to wear a mask all the time, but it is absolutely necessary.
And if some can be practiced review about the mask. We learned much more and where the mask was not considered necessary, it is now the only one, the main primary weapon that we have at our disposal to face the coronavirus ”.
- Is tourism to blame for the increase in cases?
“The latest increase in cases is mainly due to internal mobility and in the relaxation of protection measures and less to foreign visitors. To date, as of July 1, we have carried out 451,908 tests on entrants in our country, either at the land border or at the country’s airports. Of these, 972 were positive cases, with a positivity rate of only 0.2%.
“It is estimated that we will have 4 million visitors. No one had the right to deprive public funds of this money. This summer we have tried to save what we can, to come back stronger in 2021, having set an example of quality accommodation ”.
“Tourism consumed the largest number of tests carried out in the country.”
- Did the opening of tourism happen in a hurry?
“No. It was done gradually, methodically, when we were ready with a control and monitoring mechanism. We created an innovative system, which asked us for information from abroad to copy it. It is a method that we have exported to other countries.
This, Mrs. Gennimata, is not political to see and do, this is what science calls dynamic planning and this is what we follow ”.
- How ready was the state mechanism?
“The economic crisis seals this pandemic with a lesson. The mechanism does not have to be bulky, but muscular and efficient. All countries can strengthen themselves against such asymmetric threats, but Greece has succeeded.
Strengthen the National Health System, work with the private sector to increase the capacity of domestic tests. Soon we will be able to announce other initiatives so we can do more tests. We are very high in Europe on per capita tests and will go even higher.
The country has acquired national technical knowledge in the construction of relevant test reagents. We financed the initiative that allows us to carry out almost 5,000 tests nationwide.
At the same time, we created the Covid-19 observatory, a central body for pandemic assessment. Every day more than 20 important indicators are monitored, the transmission rate, economic activity, electronic transactions. “All of this allows us to collect data and produce a progress report.”
- How high is the price the country pays?
“The recession caused by the pandemic is greater than in the 1930s. It is too early to estimate the magnitude of the damage. Our goal is the lowest possible losses, especially in employment, especially in the productive bases of the economy and that is there where all the measures we have taken are concentrated and exceed 15,200 million euros.
We knew that the entire world economy would face an unprecedented recession. In Greece, in the second quarter we had a lag of 15.2%. But it would be unfair to focus only on the indicators. At the beginning of this crisis, all estimates from international organizations said that because Greece depends on tourism, it will eventually have the biggest recession. The semi-annual recession is of the order of 7.9%, the recession of the eurozone is of the order of 9.1%. Greece has a lower recession than the eurozone average.
The question and the criticisms I will hear are reasonable. “We never said there would be no recession, but it matters that the figures are more or less what we presented to the European Commission and, fortunately, the predictions of some people were not confirmed.”
- Should schools open or not, should they or shouldn’t they open now?
“Research shows a lower probability of infecting children with the coronavirus and very rarely a serious illness from it. All experts are in favor of going back to school, especially where epidemiological evidence allows it, such as in Greece.
In May the widespread use of the mask was not considered a mandatory means, now it is and we had no cases.
And the double shift solution has very important disadvantages, it forces one of the parents to stay at home. It is a shame that the opposition re-identifies with a minority of trade unionists, rather than with the interests of the people. If schools were closed, parents from the weaker social strata would be truly lost.
Distance education is not the suggested option, nothing can replace contact with students, with the teacher or with the teacher. Inclusion causes a feeling of isolation, a feeling of anxiety in the students. To support the specialists’ elections, the experts told us to open schools with mandatory masks for all ages ”.
- When and how will we get out of the crisis?
“There is no definitive answer, it will only come when one or more vaccines are found and when a large part of the population is vaccinated so that we can reduce this transmission of the virus.
Many companies tell us that before the end of the year we will have clinical data. Greece will receive the appropriate dose of more than one vaccine. Protocols have already been developed for vulnerable groups to get vaccinated first. The pandemic is increasingly threatening for the economically weak, so above all society must be by their side.
There are no bad youths broadcasting it and responsible adults. there are only irresponsible citizens, of all ages. The vast majority of citizens are responsible. Nothing bothered me more than the Asvestochori incident, where more than 20 people lost their lives. May it be a life lesson for all of us. “
The discussion, in leader level parties, is carried out at the initiative of the president of the Movement for Change, Φώφης Gennimata.
The speeches of its presidents will continue parliamentary parties and one or two ministers.
The discussion will end without carried out vote, in one meeting.
