ATHENS, Dec. 21 (Xinhua) -- The Greek government will provide two COVID-19 self-test kits free of charge to all citizens regardless of their vaccination status as part of its efforts to keep people safe during the holiday season, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said here on Tuesday.
"Festive gatherings should not become sources of pain. Our defense is the tests and the basic precautions. So, the message also this year is that the best holidays are the safe holidays," he said during a cabinet meeting, according to Greek national broadcaster ERT.
The Greek state has already provided 80 million free self-tests worth 150 million euros (169 million U. S dollars) since the start of the pandemic, he noted.
Since the emergence of the Omicron coronavirus variant, Greece has also tightened its travel rules. Between Dec. 19 and Jan. 10, all travelers entering the country must provide proof of a negative PCR (polymerase chain reaction) test result not older than 72 hours or a rapid test not older than 24 hours.
"We hoped that the vaccine would bring an end to this adventure and now a new outbreak is coming to delay it. But neither fatigue nor fear must defeat us," he said, urging people to also continue getting their shots.
To date, 6.8 million people in Greece have been fully vaccinated and 2.9 million have received a booster shot, according to the latest official figures.
In recent weeks, the number of new infections in Greece has been about 40 percent lower than during the previous wave of the pandemic. However, extra steps are necessary to cope with the highly contagious Omicron virus variant, Mitsotakis explained.
So far, 26 Omicron cases have been confirmed in Greece, the National Public Health Organization (EODY) said on Monday.
On Tuesday, the EODY reported 6,424 new infections and 77 deaths in the past 24 hours. (1 euro = 1.13 U.S. dollar) Enditem
