Bid for resumption of normalcy on a razor’s edge as coming weeks crucial for curbing virus

With the coming weeks deemed as particularly critical given the Europe-wide snags in the supply of coronavirus vaccines, the government is walking a tightrope as it strives to safeguard public health while at the same time securing the conditions for even rudimentary social and economic activity.

With this in mind, the government decided on Friday to follow the recommendations of the camp in its committee of experts that supports relatively mild restrictive measures, bypassing votes in favor of a tough lockdown for the next two or three weeks. Essentially, the measures it opted for restrict the movement of the public to some extent, without placing a lock, as it were, on education or retail.

According to high-ranking government officials, there has indeed been a spike in coronavirus cases in Attica, but it has not been an exponential one that would necessitate the...