Greece announced on Wednesday that all indoor coronavirus restrictions for the fully vaccinated will be lifted.
Health Minister Thanos Plevris said that extra freedoms will be granted to those who have been vaccinated, regarding indoor entertainment venues, such as restaurants, bars and nightclubs.
In effect, the fully vaccinated are granted permission to return to the normalcy they enjoyed before the pandemic. Indoor venues for the fully vaccinated will also be allowed to play music and patrons will be allowed to stand and socialize together as they once used to do.
Plevris noted, however, that “restrictions on mixed spaces remain the same.”
He called on everyone to be vaccinated, especially in the areas of Greece with the lowest vaccination rates.
“A key prerequisite to regain our freedom is the increase in vaccination. We want to send the message that where the risk is lower, freedoms will reach the norm,” he said, noting that “we are now in the process of adopting such measures to win back our lives.”
Plevris also announced that the so-called red zone areas (regions that have a high incidence of Covid-19 cases) will be marked on the country’s epidemiological map so that citizens will be informed and can take additional precautions in terms of personal protection measures, such as wearing a mask and social distancing.
Deputy Minister of Health Mina Gaga called on all Greek citizens who have not yet been vaccinated to do so. “Where there is a high vaccination rate, there is less need for hospitalization. In Northern Greece, out of 55 Covid-19 cases treated at the ICU, only two are fully vaccinated,” she said.
An estimated 6.18 million people have been inoculated against the virus in Greece, or 57.6 percent of the total population, according to latest data.
Unvaccinated people 11 times more likely to die
Studies undertaken the the US’ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that those who are unvaccinated are 11 times more likely to die from Covid-19 than the vaccinated.
They show that those who were not vaccinated made up 95 percent of all Covid-19 cases in the United States, as well as 93 percent of hospitalizations and 92 percent of deaths that occurred between April 4 to June 19 of this year.
Published in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) on September 10, the paper stated that the study proved that those who are vaccinated were almost five times less likely to become infected with the coronavirus. They were also ten times less likely to need hospitalization due to complications associated with the virus.
Authorities in Greece announced a total of 2,876 new SARS-CoV-2 infections on Tuesday, up from 2,125 on Monday, raising the number of total infections to 666,517.
The National Organization of Public Health (EODY) said 34 patients died from Covid-19 over the last day, which brought the overall fatalities associated with the virus to 14,991.
A total of 334 patients remain intubated in intensive care units, slightly down from 342 the day before, the EODY said.
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