Curfew in Thessaloniki and Serres, SMS for movements and prohibition of flights to and from Makedonia airport
File photo: The goal is to prevent the worst. To save lives and not let the health system reach its limits, Petsas said. ANA – MPA/ANA-MPA/ALEXANDROS BELTES
ΣΧΕΤΙΚΑ ΑΡΘΡΑ
“While the figures show that even now Greece is among the countries with a better epidemiological picture, the coronavirus cases are showing exponential growth in Greece,” government spokesperson Stelios Petsas said, starting his briefing to the press on Monday.
“The condition in Thessaloniki, in some neighbouring regions, is extremely serious for public health. The health minister, Vassilis Kikilias, this morning visited the city, for which an emergency plan has been set in motion,” he said.
“The prime minister spoke on the phone with Health Minister Vassilis Kikilias and decided to impose a local lockdown in the regions of Thessaloniki and Serres from 06:00 on Tuesday and for the next 15 days,” Petsas said.
As he explained, contrary to last March’s lockdown, schools will remain open while the sending of SMS for movements outside the home will be applied again, for the same reasons as in March. Additionally, there will be a curfew from 21:00 until 05:00 in the morning, with only movements for reasons of health or work excepted.
In this context, all non-essential domestic and international flights to Thessaloniki’s Makedonia airport will be prohibited.
Condolences to the families of quake victims
Regarding the strong earthquake that hit Samos island on Friday, government spokesperson Stelios Petsas said that “the prime minister and the government send their condolences to the families of the two children that died in the quake. We wish all the injured a speedy recovery and we express our gratitude to the staff of the agencies that mobilised immediately and, of course, to the Civil Protection Agency.” He noted that the 112 emergency number operated immediately and efficiently, sending warning messages about the tsunami that followed the quake.
Petsas said the immediately after the quake “Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis spoke on the phone with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, noting that in these moments the priority is the protection of human lives. Despite the positive climate that prevailed during the phone call, which could have become an opportunity to defuse the tension, a few hours later Turkey issued another illegal NAVTEX in an area inside the Greek continental shelf. We immediately delivered a demarche to the Turkish foreign ministry and informed our allies and partners”
The government spokesperson underlined that “Greece urges Turkey to immediately revoke the illegal NAVTEX and to return to the exploratory contacts for the resolution of the one and only outstanding issue between the two countries, the delimitation of the maritime zones”.
Source: ΑΝΑ – MPA
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