Today marks four years since the appearance of the first case covid-19 in Greece – a previously unknown virus that caused millions of victims across the planet and quarantined humanity for two years.

At February 26, 2020the first case is recorded in Greece – the “patient 0» – a woman who had traveled to Milan, Italy and fell ill on her way back Thessaloniki.
The woman was hospitalized along with her minor son, who had also tested positive for the virus.

The majority of cases in the first few days were linked to people who had traveled to Italy, a major epicenter, and to a group of pilgrims who had traveled to Israel and Egypt, as well as contacts of those people.

On March 12, the ninth case, a 66-year-old man, was the first to succumb to the disease in the early hours of the morning.

The first quarantine

As scientific data on the new deadly virus from China was scarce, scientists proposed tough measures to protect the population.

At March 13due to the occurrence of cases of the virus in various regions of the country, the nationwide one was decided closure of all educational structures and gradually restaurants, shops and places of worship.

From the March 16 daily television updates from the Ministry of Health regarding the evolution of the pandemic in Greece were established.

“The pandemic was an unprecedented condition that swept our lives. Nothing was normal. Four years later, I can say that we lived through the “perfect storm”, Mr. Kontozamanis, Deputy Minister of Health during the controversial period and now advisor to the Prime Minister on Health issues, who “came in” every afternoon with the scientists, told APE-MBE in our homes to inform us about the course of the epidemic.

In mid-March they also closed the borders with Albania, North Macedonia and Turkey allowing only the movement of goods and the entry into Greece of those who have Greek citizenship or reside in the country.

On March 17, Greece and the other member states of the European Union decided to close the Union’s external borders and ban entry into the EU. to citizens of third countries, with effect from the dawn of March 18.

On the same day, the enforcement was announced 14 days house arrest to anyone entering Greek territory from now on.

From 6:00 in the morning March 23rd until May 4, significant ones were imposed traffic and movement restrictions of citizens throughout the territory, with the exception of those who were moving to and from work, those who wanted to obtain essential goods or medicines or were visiting a doctor or a person in need of help and those who were going to a ceremony (funeral, marriage or baptism), etc. Movement was also permitted for the one-time transition to the place of permanent residence.

The obligation to send SMS to the number entered our lives 13033 or filling out a written permit when leaving home.

The measures began to be gradually lifted from the beginning of May – with the repeal of 13033 and the gradual “opening” of the country.

Second wave of pandemic in Greece

The increase in COVID-19 cases in various regions of the country led the prime minister to announce new measures, specifically a new catalog restriction on movement (quarantine) throughout the country from November 7, 2020.

It was the period in which the Sotiris Tsiodras had sounded the alarm, stressing that the second wave would be more dangerous.

The schools closed again until January 11, 2021, the day Primary and Kindergarten classes started. Gymnasiums opened on Monday, February 1, 2021, while high schools in the areas with increased cases continued remote education.

Vaccination against COVID-19 and hope

Somewhere between the end of the second wave of the pandemic and the beginning of the third, a message of hope reached the whole world, when the first vaccine approved by the regulatory authorities of the European Union was a fact! This is the Comirnaty vaccine from Pfizer & BioNTech.

At the end of December 2020, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) recommended to the European Commission to grant the conditional marketing authorization of the vaccine, followed by its emergency approval by the EU. Thus began the process of vaccinating the citizens of the European Union.

THE Efstathia KabisioulisICU nurse at Evangelismos Hospital, was the first person to be vaccinated in Greece on December 27, 2020, with Michalis Yovanidis as runner-up, a guest at an Elderly Care Unit.

They were followed on the same day by the President of the Republic Katerina Sakellaropoulou and the Prime Minister of the country Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

The function of vaccines is based on the proper preparation of the individual’s immune system (the body’s natural defenses) to recognize a specific disease and protect against it.

In addition to the Pfizer & BioNTech vaccine, the Moderna, AstraZeneca and Johnson&Johnson vaccines were also approved. The Sanofi vaccine is under ongoing evaluation by the EMA and is expected in our country, as is the Novavax vaccine, which was also approved. Valneva’s inactivated virus vaccine is also in development.