Greece plans to lift quarantine restrictions from next week for travelers from the European Union and five other countries who have been vaccinated or test negative for Covid-19, a senior government official said on Wednesday.
CORONAVIRUS
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Wednesday hailed the efficacy of home-testing in containing the spread of coronavirus, however warning Greeks to steel themselves against a sense of complacency.
![Customers enjoy their dinner specially constructed domes to ensure social distancing as a way to help stop the spread of the coronavirus, at a restaurant in Istanbul, Monday. [AP]](https://www.ekathimerini.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/turkey_covid_AP_web-320x200.jpg)
Turkish Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy said flight restrictions imposed by Russia until June could cost Turkey 500,000 tourists, broadcaster NTV reported on Wednesday.
A leading health expert has warned against allowing movement between regions during the Easter holidays saying it would fuel a spike in Covid-19 infections.
![[Reuters]](https://www.ekathimerini.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/johnson_vaccine_-_reuters-320x200.jpg)
US federal health agencies on Tuesday recommended pausing use of Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 vaccine for at least a few days after six women under age 50 developed rare blood clots after receiving the shot, dealing a fresh setback to efforts to tackle the pandemic.
![Leslie Vosshall, a neuroscientist at Rockefeller University, in New York on December 2, 2020. Even before the pandemic, many female scientists felt unsupported in their fields and now, some are hitting a breaking point. [Sarah Blesener/The New York Times]](https://www.ekathimerini.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/SCI-WOMEN-INDUSTRY-2-320x200.jpg)
Like many women during the pandemic, Alisa Stephens found working from home to be a series of wearying challenges.
There were no signs of the pandemic letting up Tuesday as Greece logged a record number of intubated Covid-19 patients, with daily deaths approaching the 100 mark and infections hovering steadily above 4,000.
Deputy Civil Protection Minister Nikos Hardalias said Greece is aiming for more than 4 million vaccinations by the end of May, while predicting that the country will hit 6 million vaccinations by the end of June.
Greece logged a record number of intubated Covid-19 patients, as officials announced 4,033 new cases of coronavirus and 93 fatalities in the past 24 hours on Tuesday.
The European Commission is seeking clarification from Johnson & Johnson about its “completely unexpected” announcement of delays in deliveries of Covid-19 vaccines to the European Union, an EU official told Reuters on Tuesday.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration have recommended that use of the Johnson & Johnson single-dose Covid-19 vaccine be put on “pause,” pending an investigation into reports of potentially “dangerous” clots.
![[InTime News]](https://www.ekathimerini.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Elliniko_Vaccination_center_-_intime_news-320x200.jpg)
Greece’s general secretary for primary healthcare indicated on Tuesday that the vaccination platform will be ready to open to people in their 40s in May as the country expects a significant increase in vaccine deliveries over the next two months.
![[InTime News]](https://www.ekathimerini.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/self_test_-_intime_news-320x200.jpg)
Office workers in the public and private sectors will be able to begin self-testing next week, as some 900,000 kits will be made available at the country’s pharmacies starting at the end of the week, Greece’s minister of state said on Tuesday.
Cyprus is considering restrictions similar to those adopted by Greece and the United Kingdom for the AstraZeneca vaccine, as European health authorities continue to investigate reports of rare blood clots linked to the shot.
![A National Organization for Public Health (EODY) worker processes a swab in a mobile coronavirus testing unit on downtown Athens’ Ermou Street on Tuesday. EODY dispatches testing units to different parts of the country every day in a bid to encourage widespread public testing. [Panagiotis Tzamaros/InTime News]](https://www.ekathimerini.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/mobile_testing_eody_-_intime_news-320x200.jpg)
Three migrants who attempted to leave the island of Corfu for Italy in a wooden boat tested positive for the coronavirus on Monday after they were located and arrested by the Hellenic Coast Guard.
![[InTime News]](https://www.ekathimerini.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/self-testkit-intime_news-320x200.jpg)
The government is expected to announce the extension of self-testing – as already applied on Monday in schools – to other areas of economic and social life, such as retail, professional drivers, delivery workers etc by the end of the week, most likely Friday.
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