Peloni: Greece has all the available tools to make trips as safe as possible

Government spokesperson Aristotelia Peloni, during a press briefing on Thursday, said that the address given by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis at the 66th meeting of the UN World Tourism Organisation's regional committee for Europe, which started in Athens on the same day, sent a message that Greece will have a safe summer in 2021.

"Safety is our priority and we were on the frontline of a series of innovations that allowed us, during the pandemic, to secure all the available tools for making trips as safe as possible," she said.

"Already since Tuesday, Greece and six other EU member-states have activated the European Covid Certificate. An initiative by the prime minister that some had mocked and dismissed as doomed that has turned out to be a success for Greece, as it can work as a fast track for European travellers, facilitating their movements with respect for personal data and helping to boost tourism," Peloni said.

The government spokesperson expressed the government's hope that this tourist season will be much better than 2020. "Our country sends the message that it is a safe destination," she said.

Regarding developments on the epidemiological front, she said that there is an improvement in the number of active cases and a decline in those needing ventilators.

She also noted that the "Eleftheria" vaccination programme was continuing in an "exemplary way", with more than 5,790,000 people vaccinated so far. Of these, more than 3,752,000 have had at least one dose of a vaccine (over 35 percent of the population) and 2,155,000 (over 20 percent) have completed their vaccination. These figures were even higher on the islands, she noted, where 40 pct have had at least one dose and 27 pct have completed their vaccination.

In terms of the economy's prospects, Peloni underlined that "as it is already apparent to all that the economy is gradually entering a period of dynamic growth".

Οn the new support measures for businesses and employees, Peloni underlined that the government continues to take actions to support the resumption of activities that were seriously impacted by the measures against the pandemic.

Concluding, Peloni announced that Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is to address an event at 19:30 on Thursday for the redevelopment of the coastal front of Attica in the context of the Recovery Fund and the "Greece 2.0" recovery plan.