For pedagogical, psychological and health reasons, schools must be opened, stressed the Minister of State George Gerapetritis, in an interview with action 24 television, at the same time noting that “every day lost in knowledge and learning, is a day lost in the lives of children “. At the same time, G. Gerapetritis took a position on the issue of testing pricing, saying that the government will not tolerate profiteering.
Starting from the basic position, “we are always vigilant, it is a condition (s.s. the pandemic) that has no precedent, we can not know, we can not be complacent”, the Minister of State criticized those who say they know how to things come in the coming days and weeks, accusing them of being blind. On the other hand, the government, based on current data, makes decisions that respond to these data, he said, reiterating that “the possibility of targeted measures has never been closed, but there will be no universal ban.”
On the issue that arose with the 92 sick employees of the “Evaggelismos” hospital, after clarifying that not all of them are doctors or nursing staff, but are also administrative staff, he noticed that this number out of a total of 3,500 is a “small percentage” – moreover the On Tuesday, 35-40 people will return to their seats.
“There will be pressure at all levels, and on teachers, and in the health sector, in the means of transport, possibly in other fields as well,” G. Gerapetritis acknowledged in another part of the interview, with the additional remark that “Omicron” mutation has significantly reduced the average age of cases. In addition, he stressed that “as a rule we take measures in time, usually before the other countries (…) we are the first and only country that has imposed mandatory vaccination on our fellow citizens over 60 years”.
Emphasizing the issue of schools, the Minister of State stated that “the State has taken care, so that the tools are available, if for some days a teacher can not be in the classroom with physical presence, then e-learning should work automatically so that they do not stay the children back “. He stressed, at the same time, “how important it is, for many reasons, for schools to open normally. They need to be opened for pedagogical, psychological (to keep children socially deprived for two years) and health reasons, because in our view children are more protected in a controlled environment such as school than in a social environment. with their friends “. As for the universities, G. Gerapetritis (and as a university teacher, as he noted) estimated that “distance education may have worked effectively, but the physical interaction between professor and student at the university is absolutely necessary.”
In conclusion, “every day lost from knowledge and learning is a day lost in the lives of children. “Anyone today who can predict that the pandemic will close in the next 2-3 weeks, I feel that they do not have full knowledge of the data,” he said.
The minister then praised the young children for “showing great prudence in respecting personal protection”. Clarifying that “we listen to the opinion of the experts, so we will rely there again”, he estimated that “there will be some changes in the protocols and testing”, while he also referred to the fact that “we had one of the lowest average cases in schools units in Europe, we moved to one student per department across the territory “. After all, “all protection measures have been observed, and the school environment is ultimately a relatively safe environment.”
On the subject of tests, he first noted that “the shocking expansion of cases throughout the universe, has led to limited availability of tests, long expectations and shortages”, while specifically for Greece, he stated that “it is its first country Europe that used on a large scale and provided self-diagnostic tests to the population free of charge. “It’s the first country to use antigen tests.” However, “tripling or quadrupling the cases makes it difficult to practice, we do not have endless resources, it is finite and the source from where we can get the tests,” he added.
On the issue of the price of tests in particular, he promised that “decisions will be taken immediately.” After all, he continued, the government has been distinguished for its quick reflexes. Without ruling out the imposition of a ceiling, he pointed out that “whenever a valuation is imposed, it must always be taken into account that this can lead to artificial deprivations in the market. For us, the most important thing is: firstly, to have absolute availability, secondly, to give it free of charge to students and some categories of employees and thirdly, to give it under tolerable conditions. “We will not tolerate, as a rule, the way there is profiteering, just as we will make sure that there is adequacy”, he added characteristically.
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