April 25, 2024

Athens News

News in English from Greece

An unpleasant adventure of six young men in Paros

The incident took place on the Cycladic island of Paros, when six 18-year-old children infected with the coronavirus found themselves on the street, as no one wanted to shelter them.

Eventually young people spent 16 hours outside the parking lot of the medical center until the state broadcaster ERT intervened and they were sent to Athens.

Six guys who decided to take a vacation to Paros woke up Saturday morning with a fever. They went to the Paros Health Center where they were diagnosed with Covid-19. Two of them had fever and chills.

Doctors advised the guys to wait in the parking lot until they were taken to a quarantine hotel, as required by government regulations regarding the pandemic. However, no one came for them, and the young people remained on the street. Six hours later, the situation of one of them worsened, and his father was able to persuade one doctor to let two – his son and his friend – inside the room, because they had a high temperature, and it was very hot outside.

Ultimately, two young men were transferred to a quarantine hotel, but the other four remained in the parking lot for a total of 16 hours, as they were refused shelter by everyone, even the church, according to ERT. At some point, the parents of the teenagers called the state television company ERT and turned to it for help and intervention. ERT contacted the Civil Protection Service, where they said they were not responsible for quarantine hotels. However, under pressure from journalists, the Civil Protection Service organized a helicopter to transport the four guys from Paros to Athens.

The incident occurred a day after local and national media reported how a young Italian tourist who tested positive for Covid-19 was actually thrown onto the street on the island Mykonosand the quarantine hotels were full. The civil protection service said that a tourist can find accommodation in a regular hotel if he announces that he is Covid-positive. However, the tourist was refused.

Opposition party SYRIZA on Sunday condemned the case of a family of domestic travelers with a child who were unable to return to their home in Volos and were unable to find accommodation on the island of Alonissos after their mother tested positive for Covid-19 before their return. IN a statement SYRIZA says there is no quarantine hotel on Alonissos, as the government’s plan was not to have such hotels on the small islands, and those infected must be in nearby Skiathos for mandatory quarantine.

However, according to the latest decision by the Ministry of Shipping on Friday, those returning from islands to the mainland must get tested for Covid if they are not vaccinated. Those who tested positive obviously cannot travel by ferries, even to islands with quarantine hotels. And there are no corresponding provisions on the transportation or placement of the infected.

It appears that the outbreak in several tourist destinations has occurred much faster than government action. It did not react as soon as the growth of infections was detected, and did not move towards an increase in the number of quarantine hotels, which, as reported total 40 across the country.

According to the ERT, the Ministry of Health and Civil Protection are considering the possibility of requisitioning hotels to transfer them to quarantine.





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