A government decision already in effect makes it easy for private sector employees belonging to so-called ‘vulnerable groups’ with regard to the coronavirus to ask to work from home so as not to come into contact with the public. A simple phone call, email or SMS to the boss should suffice, unless the employer can prove that work from home is not feasible. Even then, employers have to make arrangements to ensure the safety of their employees, failing which they will face hefty fines. In the coming days, the government will issue directives specifying the vulnerable groups and the medical documents required as proof.
I first lived in Greece in the late 1980s as a student. I’d exchanged chilly Cambridge for the beautiful Peloponnesian town of Nafplio and was carrying out postgraduate research on modern Greek identity and tourism.
There were many who resented Margaret Thatcher when she said, “There is no such thing as society” – not that they would not resent her if she didn’t. Even today, many politicians (without belonging to the left) repeat the buzzword with a grimace of abhorrence for its quasi-social neoliberalism.
The Environment Ministry has announced plans to crack down on illegal construction on Mykonos and Santorini.
September 7 will be a crash test for both the Greek state and society at large.
Greek health authorities on Friday announced emergency restrictions for the regions of Karditsa, in central Greece, and Pieria and Pella, in northern Greece, following localized spikes in coronavirus infections there.
Ahead of the scheduled reopening of Greek schools on September 7, the Greek Police’s cyber crimes division has launched an investigation into certain groups on Facebook that have been exhorting parents and children to defy authorities’ demands for the mandatory use of face masks by pupils to curb the spread of Covid-19.
“This summer I will not go to Chios. The feeling of emptiness is overwhelming. I am thinking of the kids who have to stay in the migrant centers without the few hours of normalcy we could offer them.”
Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou has met with Militsa (Emilia) Kamvysi and Efrstratia Mavrapidou, two of the three three elderly women who became known as the “Lesvos grandmas,” after they were captured by a local photographer helping a young Syrian mother who had just landed on the shores of Lesvos in the eastern Aegean after making the treacherous crossing from Turkey in October 2015.
It is worth noting certain uncomfortable truths regarding the government measures and public attitudes toward the coronavirus pandemic.
In response to the continued climb in coronavirus cases, companies are introducing a series of measures ahead of the return of employees from their summer vacations.
“There are many things to be done on the pension system front,” new Deputy Labor Minister Panos Tsakloglou said this week, after his swearing-in.
The government on Tuesday announced a relief package for the island of Evia, which suffered extensive damage during powerful rainstorms and floods last Sunday which cost the lives of eight people.
I read the farewell letter that was published in Kathimerini by former Greek prime minister Panagiotis Pikrammenos following the recent death of his friend and colleague Giorgos Panagiotopoulos (both men served as presidents of the Council of State, the country’s highest administrative court).
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitstotakis speaks with locals on the island of Evia on Monday while surveying the damage caused by flash floods due to heavy rainfall on Sunday. A prosecutor on the island has ordered an investigation to determine whether any person or body can be held responsible for the deaths of eight people, including an infant, due to the floods. According to reports, two parallel investigations will be undertaken. One by the Fire Brigade, for omissions and errors in the handling of the situation and the other by a criminal judge for any arbitrary structures and illegal earthworks in the riverbed of the River Lilantas. Meanwhile, the Civil Protection authority has come under fire for not activating the 112 emergency number. [ANA-MPA]
A prosecutor on the island of Evia has ordered an investigation to determine whether any person or body can be held responsible for the deaths of eight people, including an infant, due to the flash floods on Sunday.
Greece’s Center for Security Studies, the think tank of the Citizens’ Protection Ministry, is conducting research into reports of increased domestic violence during the lockdown.
A total of 11,397 distressed-mortgage holders had applied online by noon on Wednesday for relief through the Finance Ministry’s Bridge subsidy program, which was launched on Tuesday. The program provides a nine-month subsidy for consistent mortgage-owners that comes up to 600 euros or 90% of their first three monthly installments and declines to 80% in the second quarter of the scheme and 70% in the third. An estimated 300,000 mortgage-holders impacted by the pandemic stand to benefit. Applications for the scheme are available on the website www.keyd.gov.gr and the deadline is September 30. [Simela Pantzartzi/ANA-MPA]
Amid an upward trend in coronavirus infections, Greek health authorities are focusing their efforts on bringing the R number, signifying the rate of transmission, below 1.
The Athens municipal council has decided to extend the pilot project of the Grand Walk initiative, a network of pedestrianized streets and bicycle lanes, for another three months.