G. Oikonomou: If there are gaps, the process of recruiting the services of private doctors will start tomorrow

LAST UPDATE: 13.39

“Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is going to London today. He will have meetings with investors, with representatives of the Confederation of British Industrialists, will speak at the opening of the Ancient Greeks – Science and Wisdom exhibition and at an event for Greeks in the Diaspora. “with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, during which issues of bilateral cooperation will be discussed with emphasis on the development of economic and trade relations and especially tourism in view of 2022”, said the government spokesman, Giannis Oikonomou, starting the briefing of the political authors. “The prime minister will also raise the issue of the return of the Parthenon Sculptures, which is major for all Greeks but also for world culture.

It is noted that Kyriakos Mitsotakis raised this issue last Friday at the event held in Paris for the 75th anniversary of the founding of UNESCO. In particular, he recalled that the UNESCO Intergovernmental Commission for the Promotion of the Return of Cultural Property to their countries of origin unanimously acknowledged that the case was of an intergovernmental nature. And therefore the obligation to return the sculptures of the Parthenon absolutely concerns the government of the United Kingdom. He stressed that these sculptures are an extremely important part of the world cultural heritage and called on London to start a bona fide dialogue for their return. “Our country, Greece, with the age-old cultural weight that distinguishes it, that it has, now plays a leading role in the global cultural development”, stressed Mr. Economou.

The government spokesman also stressed that “also in Paris, at the conference on Libya, which the Prime Minister is known to have participated in, in the context of the multifaceted and active diplomacy that our country has developed over the past two years, he stressed that Greece is ready to He called on the Libyan government, which will emerge from the elections, to resume talks with it on a maritime demarcation agreement. the withdrawal of all foreign troops and mercenaries as soon as possible. ”

As Mr. Economou said: “it is important that the conclusions of the Conference fully correspond to the positions of the Greek side”.

Referring to the pandemic, the government spokesman said: “The epidemiological situation in the country, as in most European countries, remains tense and the NSS is still under strong pressure. the number of cases and the coronavirus-related mortality, as already pointed out by research conducted in our country and abroad, as well as by the data we constantly receive from our hospitals, only 1 in 10 who are treated in the ICU “He is fully vaccinated. And 94% of them have a serious underlying disease.”

He continued: “It should be emphasized that despite the much more cases we have this year, we have fewer hospitalizations than last year despite the fact that we have much tighter control and much more cases as I said.

All this shows that our unvaccinated fellow citizens are at greater risk and that the vaccine is still the most effective weapon we have against the virus and especially against the serious disease.

With these data we emphasize the extension of the vaccination coverage both for the first dose for our unvaccinated fellow citizens and for the third dose for those who have been vaccinated and especially for our fellow citizens who are from 60 and over but also for the whole the population.

At the same time, we continue to take care of the implementation of the sanitary measures that have been announced, as well as the extensive controls for their observance. “And of course every day we continue the effort to strengthen the NSS because there is a big battle going on at this time”, he said characteristically.

At this point, the government spokesman reminded that “at the disposal of the country’s public hospitals are 1,277 ICU beds this year compared to the 557 that existed in 2019.

Also, as in previous waves of the pandemic, the government is now working with the private sector to treat non-covid and covid cases. Already 11 private clinics in Thessaloniki, Larissa, Volos, Karditsa, Trikala and Kozani have allocated for the treatment of covid cases over 400 beds, have allocated 231 beds for non covid cases and as I said in a previous update the whole of private sector ICUs is at the disposal of the NSS.

In addition, the Ministry of Health has given incentives to private doctors in order to temporarily strengthen the Health System. Tonight we are waiting for the final results of this move, the answers from the medical associations in this direction. Depending on the gaps that exist, the Ministry of Health is ready and from tomorrow, according to the provisions, the process of mobilizing the services of private doctors for the strengthening of the NSS will begin.

At the same time, monoclonal drugs are available to our country after the approval by EMA, which will be administered according to the protocols as the experts judge from the next period “.

In fact, as Mr. Oikonomou said, “it is characteristic that 12/11 were approved and on 12/11 our country had at its disposal 2,000 such drugs. We did and will continue to do whatever the conditions require to achieve the maximum possible protection. Our strategy is dynamic and fully responsive to both epidemiological and scientific data.

“However, closing this issue and because the official opposition led by Mr. Tsipras is engaged in a trade of fear and catastrophe, failing to understand the interdependence of crises, I want to focus on exactly how things are,” said the government spokesman.

He explained: “In the first phase of the pandemic we used the universal lockdown measure because at that time we had no other means of defense against the coronavirus. The aim was to limit the spread of the virus and the losses in order to save valuable time. strengthening the NSS and developing the vaccine.

The government at that time succeeded in strengthening the NSS and bringing it to levels similar to the most powerful states in Greece. At the same time, at the end of 2020, the vaccination program started, which has been organized and is being carried out since then in an exemplary manner.

In the meantime the government found the necessary financial resources to support society, to financially support the fight against the pandemic and to secure the incomes of all citizens even though society was underperforming. “Once the vaccine was available, free and operational, the government went to the next stage of planning: the gradual and safe restoration of economic, social and educational functioning.”

Mr. Oikonomou underlined that “the country can not be enclosed, with exceptions, yes. For the support of the NSS and the resistance to the pandemic, financial resources are required. In other words, in order to support the NSS, households and businesses, the country must be open, the economy must function, wealth must be generated.

The policy of support for the NSS, for households, and businesses and in the pandemic and then against the coming price increases is now possible, among other things, because the government took care to proceed in time to the gradual opening of the economy, after ensuring free, safe and easy vaccination for everyone. The unprecedented success of the tourist season confirms our strategy. And now, in view of Christmas, everyone understands that the Homeland, the people of toil, the creative Greece, need an open and functional society. Refusal to vaccinate and non-observance of health measures, in addition to the enormous dangers it poses to the lives of the deniers, but also to others, creates at the same time other problems: It undermines the country as a whole and mortgages the toil, effort and results we have succeeded all the previous time “.

Emphasizing this point, the government spokesman added that “in an environment of multiple international crises, the country needs a cool, serious, solid and prudent policy. We follow this policy, trying every day to safeguard national interests, ensure the safety of citizens and their prosperity in a complex environment of interconnected crises.

“On the other hand, Mr. Tsipras fails to understand and interpret the interdependence of events, he destroys, sows panic among the people and undermines this national effort.”

Concluding his introductory statement, Mr. Economou referred to the program for young farmers:

“I want to emphasize a very important program that has been going on since last Friday. It concerns the program of young farmers. The primary sector is one of the main weapons we have for regional development, but also the change of our productive model. And we are determined to use all the financial tools, all the means at our disposal to support it, but also to renew it with age.

In this context, the application platform for inclusion in the innovative program of “Young Farmers” was opened last Friday. This is a budget program of 420 million euros. The aim is to enable more than 11,000 young people to engage in the primary sector, with the basic premise of having a business plan.

The amount of aid – depending on the place of permanent residence and the production direction and obviously the business plan – will range from 35,000 to 40,000 euros. The aid will be paid in two installments. The first – which concerns 70% of the total amount – with the inclusion of the beneficiary in the program and the next afterwards “, said Mr. Oikonomou, concluding and then received questions from the political authors.