Vassilis Kikilias

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis will be receiving Health Minister Vassilis Kikilias at his office in the Maximos Mansion on Monday for a briefing on a weekend meeting of health officials on the new coronavirus outbreak in neighboring Italy.

Health Minister Vassilis Kikilias on Thursday announced a legislative initiative to facilitate the immediate hiring of medical staff at the hospitals on the eastern Aegean islands that bear the brunt of migration influx.
Speaking on Alpha TV, Kikilias said that the hospitals needed to be supported because they were originally designed to serve the needs of the local population.

European Union health ministers met in Brussels on Thursday for an emergency summit to discuss a coordinated response to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus. Greece's Vassilis Kikilias recommended a digital platform that would allow member-states' crisis management authorities to exchange information related to the health scare in real time.

Greek Health Minister Vassilis Kikilias will be in Brussels on Thursday to participate in an extraordinary EU ministers meeting to discuss the bloc's preparedness to tackle a possible coronavirus outbreak.

Israel's Foreign Ministry director-general Yuval Rotem will visit Athens Wednesday for talks with Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias and other officials, the Israeli embassy announced.

Greece's Health Ministry has ordered the operation of an additional 15 beds at intensive care units (ICUs) at state hospitals in the Greek capital to meet with increased demand.

Health Minister Vassilis Kikilias will be chairing a meeting of Greece's National Council for Public Health (ESYD) on Monday to discuss the country's preparations to shield itself from the deadly new coronavirus that made its appearance in China last month.

Health Minister Vassilis Kikilias says Greece's health system is ready to cope with an outbreak of the coronavirus in Greece.

"We cannot exclude a coronavirus case in our country; howevwe, we are ready to cope with such a case and break the transmission chain," Kikilias told TV station Skai Sunday.

The Chinese Ambassador to Greece, Zhang Qiyue, on Monday briefed Health Minister Vassilis Kikilias on the measures assumed in China to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

Health Minister Vassilis Kikilias is to meet the Chinese Ambassador to Greece, Zhang Qiyue, on Monday regarding the response to the deadly coronarivus. 

The virus, which broke out in Wuhan, central China, has killed more than 80 people and infected thousands globally, most of them in China.