Aristotelia Peloni

The prime minister's office officially announced on Friday the appointment of State Minister Akis Skertsos as government spokesman.

Skertsos is replacing government spokesman Giannis Oikonomou, who is a candidate in the May 21 elections.

The Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis met with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of China, Wang Yi, at the Maximos Palace.

After weeks of mixed messages from ministers and with the COVID-19 epidemic raging in Attica, the government has finally decided to ban movement between prefectures for Greek Easter, which is on 2 May this year.

"The government proposes that inter-regional movement not be permitted for Easter," government spokesperson Aristotelia Peloni said in an interview with SKAI this morning.

Greece and Israel are expected to sign a bilateral agreement on tourism on Monday during a visit by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis to Jerusalem, a Greek government spokeswoman said.

The Education Ministry confirmed on Thursday that kindergartens, elementary schools and special education schools will reopen on January 11.

Meanwhile, middle and high schools will resume online classes on Friday.

There was confusion on Thursday over whether schools for younger pupils would actually reopen on Monday, as initially announced earlier this week, after conflicting announcements by the government.

Last Monday (Jan. 4), Education Minister Niki Kerameus said that kindergartens, elementary and special education schools in Greece would reopen as of January 11.

Greece's center-right government says senior state officials will no longer be given priority for the Covid-19 vaccination after posts on social media by Cabinet ministers receiving the shot triggered a backlash from health care unions and opposition parties.

Prompted by allegations of special treatment, the conservative administration on Wednesday said it would suspend a vaccination program for "priority staff critical for the government's operation."

According to a list provided by the government, 128 officials were scheduled to receive the coronavirus jab by the end of January. Sixty-six of them had been vaccinated until Tuesday.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis told Greeks on Tuesday that the country was "at war" with COVID-19, and warned that measures to fight the pandemic would hurt the fragile Greek economy.

Some 387 people in Greece have tested positive for coronavirus COVID-19 since February 26; five people have died and 70 are being treated in hospital, 11 of whom are in intensive care.

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has tested negative for the coronavirus, alternate government spokesperson Aristotelia Peloni told a news briefing Monday. 

Peloni was asked whether Mitsotakis underwent the test as he has been in contact with government spokesman Stelios Petsas, who has been in self-isolation since his wife tested positive for the virus.