Government dismisses rampant rumours of new lockdown

By Eleni Stergiou

The owner of a clothing shop sends a message: "Should I stock up for Christmas or will we shut down? I cannot endure yet another disastrous year."

A university student who just began a programme of face-to-face instruction wonders: "Will universities shut down again? How will we endure tele-education without company and without our friends?"

These are just some of the hundreds of messages received daily by journalists, politicians, doctors, and scientists. They are the messages of citizens who are anxious about whether the country will shut down again, whether we will have yet another lockdown, with restrictions on movement, closed shops, sending an SMS for permission to leave home, furtive meetings with friends, and a compulsory quarantine which no one knows where it will end up.

Citizens in Greece and elsewhere are living with the fear of a new lockdown, even as COVID-19 sweeps away everything.

Meanwhile, the National Health System (NHS) is under insufferable pressure. We have nearly 100 deaths from COVID-19 daily. The vaccine rollout, after some months of a complete stall in the campaign, is picking up again.

Unfortunately, although the government emphatically rules out new restrictive measures every day, it has not managed to put an end to concerns and rumours of a new lockdown.

The rumours are accompanied by a supposed starting day for the lockdown, with some saying it will be next Monday and others saying it will be on 6 December.

They spread fear and heightened concerns in citizens who cannot endure a return to the tough period of quarantine.

Categorical denial

Government cadres are feverishly denying that there will be measures akin to those taken in 2020, even...

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