Greece: New Year’s Eve without music and … under the covers

Barely the Minister of Health of Greece announced about New Years celebrations without music and the closure of food service outlets at 2 a.m. as a tsunami of cancellations hit restaurants, bars and entertainment venues.

“You destroyed us. We are closing,” trade unionists from the sector told state-run ERT three hours after the announcement, stressing that at least half of the facilities will not open on the last day of 2021, and many will likely never open again. ..

Who wants to sit in silence at a festive meal on such a day or go to a bar where music is prohibited? As for the famous bouzouki with live music and dancing that usually open late at night and close at dawn, and where thousands of Greeks like to spend their holidays and New Year’s Eve … Well, they certainly lacked their main purpose and meaning. Who will go to bouzouki at 11 o’clock in the evening, pay a considerable price for being surrounded by deafening silence, and leave in three hours?

Please note that access to enclosed spaces is only permitted for citizens who are fully vaccinated or recovered from Covid and must also wear a mask if they are not eating or drinking.

Now the Greeks must be flexible and have a feast of joy at home. Or not…

True to the mysterious tradition of the ancient Greek oracle of the Pythia and the vague instructions of modern Greek politicians, Minister Thanos Pleuris announced that private or public parties are prohibited… He left behind a bewildering oracle-style prophecy without making it clear what exactly he meant. And it is quite possible that the police, who have become adept at fines of passers-by without a mask, massive raids to ensure the “security from the coronavirus” regime, instead of catching criminals, already are preparing to night raids, arrests and fines (or, rather, bribes to buy off who decides what).

It is worth noting that the current Minister of Health, Pleuris, is not a physician, but a lawyer. And although he simply reads out the documents written to him from the office of the Prime Minister, he himself must understand the absurdity of what he is saying.

He meant that Houses parties are not allowed? Is there a limit on the number of people in private public gatherings? Is music at home allowed or not? What is a “party” anyway?

I start preparing for the New Year, go to the store, buy food and gifts, invite relatives and friends, and then I have to cancel everything because the government decided to cheat with the tests on the last day?

Or do you think that 21.67 thousand infected before the holidays came from the ceiling? No, just 556,060 tests were done, and in September no more than 40,000 were done per day, with a result of 4,000 infected. We interpolate the numbers and get 0.03 positive answers for 1 test, compared to 0.1 (3 times less, if someone is not in tune with the numbers) at the beginning of September, before the introduction mass testing… But the main indicator that should be guided by is the number of intubated and dead *, and it has been practically unchanged for a month already, moreover, it is gradually decreasing **.

Alternative solution: lie under the covers and get out when the pandemic is over.

As someone who has been reporting coronavirus almost daily since February 2020, I can honestly tell you: I’m sick of it!

* unless, of course, you don’t stoop to the “conspiracy theory”, the adherents of which are sure that the coronavirus does not exist, and all this is the intrigues of “the evil Bill Gates, reptilians and 5G”.

**Judging by 5-day quarantine for the Omicron strain, its danger is unnecessarily exaggerated, and in fact it is not worse than seasonal flu. And why do we need all of the above? Give money to a relative who produces masks, or please the prime minister’s vanity?

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