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“The PM has asked Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, who is the First Secretary of State, to deputise for him where necessary,” Downing Street said.

Civil Protection chief Nikos Hardalias reiterated that April is "a difficult and critical month" and current positive developments "could be reversed at any moment".

It is not easy at difficult moments to be magnanimous. Yet it is at such times that generosity characterises great leadership, as did the perceptiveness and moral leadership of Chancellor Angela Merkel during the refugee crisis of 2015.

We therefore propose that we work together quickly to ensure sufficient liquidity in all European Union countries, so that jobs do not depend on the whims of speculators.

The wealthy states of Northern Europe and especially Germany, the Netherlands, and Finland continue to stubbornly refuse to adopt bold economic measures in the midst of a deadly pandemic.

'The issuance of one-off coronabonds is one possibility, There are other instruments that could be used, like an EU rescue fund or measures involving the ESM or the European Investment Bank,' says Isabel Schnabel.

'The unity, determination and discipline that the Greek society has shown overwhelmingly to date has allowed us to follow a different course from most other countries,' Civil Protection Underminister Nikos Hardalias said.

'They [the state] are asking us to exhibit personal responsibility while at the same time the health of workers is in great danger due to the government and employers,' the party's message states.

The Greeks still quote an aphorism that has remained in the language unchanged from the time of Solon in antiquity: Rejoice in nothing before it is over. It would be wrong for one to believe that a positive outcome in the battle against the coronavirus pandemic is foreordained. Yet at the same time it would be fatalistic for one not to acknowledge that Greece has already accomplished a significant labour and passed a critical hurdle. It has become a model in its handling of the public health crisis for countries which have a long record of organisation, infrastructure, and discipline. Moreover, Greece’s 10-year economic depression has deprived the country of the requisite means to grapple with the current public health crisis with a full arsenal of weapons. It is precisely for that reason that the government acted with exceptional speed and foresight. One should acknowledge this and not issue fatalistic pronouncements that the government turned a weakness into fuel to gain advantage. To paraphrase the famous quote by the late statesman Constantine Karamanlis who declared that “We are doing well abroad”, implying that the domestic picture is not so rosy, one might say today that we are doing well at home. That is the overwhelmingly prevailing sense in public opinion as 86 percent of respondents in a recent surveys approve of the partial lockdown and 67 percent approve of the government’s emergency economic measures [Pulse polling company, 2 April]. These numbers are very significant as they reflect that the crisis is helping to restore citizens’ trust in institutions and the state. Did we need a crisis to begin restoring that necessary trust, to succeed in that labour? The answer lies in yet another ancient aphorism: “There is nothing bad that comes without some good”, which is to say every cloud has a silver lining. Greece .has become a model in its handling of the public health crisis for countries which have a long record of organisation, infrastructure, and discipline.

“We may see a decline yet this is up to us entirely as the spread can very rapidly reach the larger population, depending on whether people abide strictly by current restrictive measures," Tsiodras said.

The level of debate in Parliament yesterday was a far cry from what one used to see in the tumultuous years of Greece’s bailout memorandum and prior to that.

“We are not at the beginning of the end. We are perhaps at the end of the beginning,” the PM said in underlining the need for a continuation of the lockdown.

Offering assistance to senior citizens is an integral part of the collective effort that must made by the overwhelming majority in order to weather this deadly pandemic.

The balmy weather and a degree of complacency due to the relatively successful containment of the rate of spread of the virus in Greece made for a noxious cocktail.

Berlin proposes that those hardest hit repair to the ESM for loans that would break the back of the highly indebted countries.

There is a pressing need for certain EU leaders to understand that now is not the time for strict economic discipline. This is an hour when the welfare of human beings must come first.

Resistance to fascism and all manner of oppression was for Manolis Glezos - who Charles de Gaulle described as the 'first partisan of Europe' - a sacred and perpetual duty. He simply could not do otherwise.

The Turkish leadership went as far as to liken the situation at the border to the plight of the Jews during the Holocaust. This disrespected the memory of the millions brutally murdered by the Nazis.

Tsiodras announced 56 new confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Greece in the last 24 hours and 5 new deaths, and said this brings the country’s total to 1,212 confirmed infections and 43 deaths.

 'As the government was first to mobilise, with bold measures against the pandemic, so our country's political classes must stand on the front lines of solidarity,'said PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis,

It would be disastrous to leave the economy to its own devices as many governments in Europe realise though there are glaring and unfortunate exceptions, which have made the situation even more difficult.

In managing the effects of the Coronavirus pandemic he positively impressed everyone with his clear judgment, the directness of his choices, and his swift reaction.

Interior Minister Takis Theodorikakos told nationwide Mega television that residents of Attica will not be permitted to leave the area and return to ancestral villages as happens each year with a huge exodus from Athens.

Greece and the enitire EU responded effectively when migrants and refugees in Evros were exploited by Ankara as a tool of blackmail to achieve objectives that were anything but humanitarian.

Public Order Minister Michalis Chrysohoidis today directly accused Turkey of blackmailing Europe for years by sending over one million migrants and declared essentially that the jig is up and that both Greece and the EU will not permit this to continue.

The health ministry spokesman announced 71 new cases of covid-19 in Greece in the last 24 hours and four more deaths, bringing the country’s total number of cases to 892 and the total number of deaths to 26.

We need unity and discipline and that is why the president and the government underlined that the pandemic is a national affair which does not concern only the government and authorities.

With the pandemic likely to decimate Greek tourism, which is widely viewed as the engine of the economy, the tourism ministry will launch an intensive campaign to attract foreign tourists to Greece,

In a message marking the celebration of Greek Independence Day, which is also his name day, Marinakis expressed confidence that Greece will emerge victorious from the coronavirus pandemic.

"We have had and will have losses, and our economy will suffer. But it is our duty to reduce the pain to the least possible and to share the cost of adapting to the new economic reality in a just way," he said.

Society must comprehend the critical nature of the challenge which it faces and contribute all its means and weapons to the effort to battle the pandemic.

Professor Sotiris Tsiodras, the health ministry’s spokesman, said that the relative flattening of the curve of the spread of the virus in Greece is cause for guarded optimism.

Health ministry spokesman Sotiris Tsiodras this afternoon estimated that the actual number of Covid-19 infections in Greece is between 8,000 and 10,000 based on mathematical models.

'Greece can tackle the pandemic in a timely and effective manner so that the damage to the economy, which will be significant, can be reversed, " the finance minister said.

The much-touted normalcy to which Greek society was supposed to return has been postponed indefinitely or at least for enough time to deal a new, severe blow to the economy and the labour market.

The state must at once protect human lives and manage the economic repercussions from a general lockdown which if it turns out to be protracted can plunge the economy into a new debt crisis

This is perhaps the ultimate step that an organised democratic state can take and it must be done in a timely manner in order for it not to be taken in vain because right now time is not counted in days but rather in hours.

The current public health crisis is different in nature than the economic crisis that Greece has already suffered, yet the memory of it is too fresh to repeat the same mistakes.

Professor Sotiris Tsiodras almost broke down while revealing that a colleague sent him a message in which he essentially questioned why there is such a fuss over saving the elderly.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis discussed the issue at length today in a telephone conversation with Elisa Ferreira, the Commissioner for Cohesion and Reforms.

Greece’s partners, including those most dedicated to fiscal discipline, are beginning to comprehend that austerity is not a cure-all.The pandemic requires a Keynesian approach to managing the economy.

'Stay home. Do not travel or go to the villages because you will bring death to the provinces. Maintain discipline for as long as it takes. Do not end up like Italy!' a Greek doctor in Parma warned her compatriots.

The closures ordered by the government - which pertain to seasonal tourist facilities that have not opened yet – aside from hotels covers camping facilities, youth hostels, condohotels, and furnished villas and homes.

A series of measures announced by the government are designed to prevent the collapse of the economy and a steep rise in unemployment.

A total of 45,076 people applied for nursing-related positions, part of the government's hirings for the coronavirus pandemic, according to regional health service data on Thursday.

At a time when Europe is being racked by a pandemic and multi-nationals are announcing the suspension of part of their activity it cannot afford to leave millions of workers to their own devices.

The five American technological tech giants – Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Facebook, and Apple should dig deep into their pockets and exhibit palpable solidarity with their global audience.

Her government has advised the country’s 16 regions to shut schools and daycare facilities until the end of the Easter holiday. Shops, except for grocery stores, bakeries, pharmacies banks and other essential businesses have been shut.

President Sakellaropoulou's message to Turkey is that it has exploited refugees and has adressed Greece with unseemly language, which undermines the mores of international relations and any sense of diplomacy.

Labour Minister Yannis Vroutsis told Mega television that the data on the state’s ERGANI labour tracking system for the first 15 days of March are “horrifying”. There have been 30,000 layoffs in that period.

With few exceptions the entire business world will suffer severe trials and will have to build new defences and strategies in order to survive the crisis.

The government is preparing a series of measures to bolster employees that were laid off and businesses that were forced to shut down due to the epidemic.

In his second nationally televised address on the government’s strategy in dealing with Covid-19 today Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis braced Greeks for a multi-front “war”

'The enemy is the virus and now we have to do our utmost to protect our people and economies. We are ready to do everything required. and will not hesitate to take additional measures as the situation evolves,' said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

The paramount objective right now is to avoid at all costs the travails of the Italian health system and to limit as much as possible the dramatic disaster that Italy is experiencing.

If the emergency measures had not been taken the number of cases would have risen tenfold and it could easily have spun out of control MIT Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Professor Constantinos Daskalakis told Mega television.

A spate of reports indicated that on 15 March MItsotakis called Ieronymos to pressure him to close all churches but that would require the approval of a mahority of the other 12 members of the Permanent Holy Synod.

Of the total 352, 65 patients are hospitalised in Athens, Thessaloniki and Patras, and of these nine are in Intensive Care Units.

It is in no one’s interest for the economy to shrink again due to recessionary policies and policies that will not facilitate an extremely swift remedy of the major additional wounds that it will suffer from the virus.

The common conviction is that it must be confronted with strong and impassable walls that only communities of citizens can construct by protecting themselves and faithfully enforcing public health restrictions.

Greek foreign ministry spokesman Alexandros Gennimatas reiterated the accusations of the government and some EU leaders that Turkey is using migrants as a battering ram to dismantle Europe’s borders.

'I stand by your side just as I stand beside all those who are in the frontline of this battle: mainly doctors and nurses, security forces and Civil Protection authorities, pharmacists, employees at food stores and in the entire supply chain who keep working so that we all can obtain necessary goods.'

The government has requisitioned all pharmaceuticals and has ordered companies to take a thorough inventory after a steep rise in cases over a 24-hour period.

The stance of the government and infectious diseases (ID) experts is to urge and force Greeks nationwide to hunker down at home until the coronavirus tsunami recedes.

It is now clear that sporadic, piecemeal measures to handle the crisis are akin to offering an aspirin and not effective treatment to the deeply ailing economy.

It should be understood that solidarity and a sense of social responsibility give us an important advantage in responding to the pandemic.

She is known as a moderate, progressive and rights-oriented jurist. As president she has a largely ceremonial role and is required to sign executive order drafted by the government, but the weight of the office consists in the president’s role as a focal point of national unity.

The number of confirmed cases in Greece at midday today was 117. Of these 82 are the aforementioned pilgrims and 25 people who had contact with them.