by Maria Spiliopoulou, Alexia Vlachou
ATHENS, May 12 (Xinhua) -- On the occasion of International Nurses Day on Tuesday, Greece's President Katerina Sakellaropoulou and Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis thanked the frontline healthcare professionals on behalf of the Greek people for their valuable work in the ongoing battle against the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a symbolic gesture, Sakellaropoulou visited Evangelismos Hospital in the center of Athens and praised doctors, nurses and all hospital workers for their "self-sacrifice" to save lives.
"(I want to express) a huge thank you for everything you have done, to all of you who have been on the frontline against this unprecedented health crisis," Mitsotakis said during a video conference with the heads of nursing departments at 12 coronavirus referral state hospitals throughout the country.
During the video conference, the Greek prime minister acknowledged that one of the major and chronic shortages faced by the national health system was in the number of its nursing staff, with Greece ranking in the last positions in Europe for the number of nursing staff per citizen, based on population, according to an e-mailed press release issued by his office.
After the COVID-19 outbreak in Greece on Feb. 26, the government hired about 2,000 healthcare personnel, returning to the same level as before the economic crisis, he stressed.
Mitsotakis pledged further support to reinforce the health services with additional staff and improve working conditions and services provided.
"It was difficult, we were not afraid, we did not lay down our arms for a moment. On the contrary, we were stubborn, we responded to the maximum," Vagia Zagana, director of nursing services at Sotiria Hospital, said during the conference, expressing gratitude for the assistance provided by the state so far.
Meanwhile, the Panhellenic Federation of Public Hospital Employees (POEDIN) staged protests at the yards of public hospitals, demanding more government aid as soon as possible.
Protesters on Tuesday asked for the hiring of 3,000-4,000 new staff per year to meet needs.
"We honor the contribution of the nurses. Without their help nothing would work. Positions have been announced, but not one nurse has yet come to our hospital," Sophia Hatzidou, head of the cardiology department at Alexandra Hospital and president of the union of the hospital's personnel, told Xinhua and other media on Tuesday.
"We are entering periods of quarantine. We face suspicious cases regularly. As a result, the entire nursing and obstetrics department has been weakened. We face the specter of closure of units. We are requesting practical support," she said.
"Sixteen thousand colleagues are in flexible forms of employment. They cover permanent needs, they have been fighting against the coronavirus, and they must be awarded indefinite contracts," Michalis Giannakos, POEDIN's president, said.
Despite the shortcomings and the pressure on the national health system, the Greek authorities' swift implementation of strict restrictive measures and the Greek citizens' compliance have earned the country international praise for managing to flatten the novel coronavirus' curve.
On May 4, Greece started to gradually lift the restrictive measures. The first students went back to school on May 11, many stores have reopened in the past week, and restaurants, cafeterias and hotels are due to open on June 1.
At a press conference organized by the Health Ministry on Tuesday, Greek officials announced that people will be allowed to move freely across the mainland and to and from the island of Crete as of May 18. On March 23, the authorities banned travel between different prefectures as part of efforts to control the spread of the virus.
Concerning the rest of Greece's islands, only permanent residents and professionals who need to finish work on time for the restart of the tourism sector are currently allowed to travel from and to the mainland.
At the same press briefing, officials also announced that 18 new COVID-19 cases have been recorded in Greece in the last 24 hours, and one new death.
The total number of infections since the start of the outbreak now stands at 2,744, including 152 deaths. Enditem
