Stay Home and Close the Door to the Coronavirus, Says Greek PM

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. Photo source: @PrimeministerGR

Greece’s Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is urging everyone in the country to “stay at home” and isolate themselves to avoid getting seriously ill from the coronavirus (COVID-19) but also in order to shield the population’s vulnerable groups.

“We are closing the door to the coronavirus and staying inside as long as we can,” the Greek PM posted on Twitter on Saturday.

“Especially if we are in vulnerable groups of the population, we must be even more careful. We are protecting ourselves – we are protecting society,” he added.

The PM’s tweet was accompanied by a video (in Greek) starring renowned local actor Spyros Papadopoulos who urges citizens and especially the elderly to stay home and protect themselves and others.

Κλείνουμε την πόρτα στον κορονοϊό και μένουμε μέσα όσο περισσότερο μπορούμε. Ειδικά αν είμαστε σε ευπαθείς ομάδες του πληθυσμού, προσέχουμε ακόμα περισσότερο. Προστατεύουμε τον εαυτό μας – προφυλάσσουμε την κοινωνία. #μένουμεσπίτι #μενουμε_σπιτι pic.twitter.com/jIC9YBfHSK

— Prime Minister GR (@PrimeministerGR) March 14, 2020

The video is part of a campaign launched by the Greek Health Ministry – under the hashtags #μένουμεσπίτι and #μενουμε_σπιτι – to urge all to stay indoors and help combat the coronavirus.

For the last couple of days a great number of Greeks have created a social media chorus against the coronavirus and are posting messages using a number of hashtags such as #stayhome, #beresponsible, #workingfromhome and #menoumespiti.

In response to the rising number of coronavirus (COVID-19) cases, Greece on Friday tightened its nationwide shutdown further and announced a list of businesses and establishments, including shopping malls, cafés and restaurants, that are to remain closed for 14 days.

By late Saturday it was announced that Greece had 228 confirmed cases of the coronavirus. The country is counting three deaths from the virus.