
The extent of pandemic fatigue among the general public was reflected in the most recent poll on Monday by Pulse on behalf of Skai TV which showed that more than a third of those surveyed called for an immediate easing of the restrictive measures.
The extent of pandemic fatigue among the general public was reflected in the most recent poll on Monday by Pulse on behalf of Skai TV which showed that more than a third of those surveyed called for an immediate easing of the restrictive measures.
The whole country, and especially the Athens region, will stand on a razor’s edge for the next three or four weeks, as the viral load remains very high and the health system is overburdened, with no way to predict when the third wave of the coronavirus pandemic will start ebbing.
With health officials unable at the moment to predict when the viral load in Attica and other badly affected areas will start to subside, the government is striving to chart the way forward under pressure from the heavy economic and social toll exacted by successive lockdowns.
At present, the government is preoccupied with health-related indicators, closely watching the spread of the coronavirus and hoping there won’t be any major resurgence in cases over the next two months. But, after that, priorities will change.
With the coming weeks deemed as particularly critical given the Europe-wide snags in the supply of coronavirus vaccines, the government is walking a tightrope as it strives to safeguard public health while at the same time securing the conditions for even rudimentary social and economic activity.
The complications with the European Union’s handling of vaccine procurement and the mutations of the virus not only affect Greece’s vaccination schedule. They also introduce a level of considerable uncertainty as to when the economy will reopen.
Greece is at a crossroads with Turkey where Athens must “answer a simple question: Dialogue or conflict?” “The answer is obvious,” former European commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos tells Kathimerini – who is clearly in favor of dialogue.
Exploratory contacts between Greece and Turkey resume Monday at Istanbul’s Swissotel, with Athens having particularly low expectations of a substantial outcome due to the different agendas set by both sides.
January is expected to be a month of developments in Greek-Turkish relations, with Athens reportedly eyeing a possible restart of exploratory talks with Ankara.
The government is reportedly working on a support plan for the economy beyond April, when it is thought that the country will have returned to relative normalcy after the multiple crises triggered by the coronavirus pandemic.