Day 9 of staying home
Prime Minister vs Holy Synod
Strict coronavirus measures vs tween
Prime Minister vs Holy Synod
Strict coronavirus measures vs tween
# of deaths: 5
# of people tested: 4,900
# of people hospitalized: 70
***
Big news of the day, which came last night, is Prime Minister Mitsotakis’ decision to suspend all religious services and the operation of all places of worship, regardless of religion or dogma, until March 30. However, there’s a catch. Churches will remain open, for individual prayer only… Which still doesn’t completely solve the problem.
Yesterday, the Holy Synod, the Greek Orthodox Church’s ruling
body, held a meeting which included a briefing by a health ministry official,
who is an infectious disease expert.
After the meeting and briefing, the Holy Synod decided that daily services will be suspended, churches will remain open and Sunday services will continue which – judging by what happened a few days ago on Sunday, March 15 when churches were crowded with people receiving Holy Communion, etc – did nothing to solve the issue.
Finally, the prime minister stepped in and made his “bombshell” announcement.
This morning all the TV news shows are going on and on about it so I finally had to turn everything off and tune out.
It is infuriating however, because from early-on, the PM, the health ministry and all institutions here have taken action to combat the spread of COVID-19, quickly and decisively on every level, except for the issue of churches.
If the
PM had had the balls to shut down churches even just days ago, avoiding last
Sunday’s services, the spread of the virus would have been significantly
reduced. But in a country where there is no separation between church and
state, apparently the Holy Synod still has the PM by the balls - even in unprecedented emergency situations. If a picture is worth a thousand words, what does this photo of the Holy Synod say to you?
Yesterday, the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America decided that church services will go on, but will be closed to parishioners, who will be able to watch the services online: “the Faithful should pray from their homes.”
In Greece, where every Sunday, church services are broadcast live, nationwide on TV anyway, why it took the government over a week to decide to shut down church services, (while everything else was being handled responsibly and definitively) boggles the mind. And the churches remain open, for individual prayer. To me, it is criminal negligence.
In other news, today at Athens’ Ippokratio Hospital, 21
doctors and nurses have been exposed to coronavirus, as a doctor in their
department tested positive for the virus. The 11 nurses and 10 doctors are
quarantined, patients have been transferred, and the hospital is being disinfected.
Also, the prime minister addressed the nation
in a live, 10-minute speech. Among other things, he thanked all the
frontliners, he used buzzwords like “cocooning” and “filotimo” and he urged
citizens to act responsibly, adhere to the measures, and together, united, “we
can fight this invisible but not unconquerable enemy”…
In today’s 6pm live press
briefing Health Ministry spokesman Sotiris Tsiodras and Deputy Civil Protection
Minister Nikos Hardalias made more announcements. Some are summarized below:
- As of Thursday 6am, Greece’s borders will close to all non-EU citizens, and non-Greek citizens. Citizens from non-EU countries and other foreign nationals will only be allowed to enter for work or family-related circumstances. Anyone entering the country still needs to self-quarantine for 14 days.
- travelers currently in Greece on vacation should restrict their movements, and circulate only for absolute necessary reasons.
- travelers who are self-quarantined are allowed to leave the country before their quarantine is up
- additional funding for the purchase of necessary equipment
- additional hospital wings to be designated for coronavirus patients
- private hospitals and health centers have created additional, designated ICU beds
- government is using 122 tons of ethyl alcohol for the production of antiseptics from a stock of ethyl alcohol that has been seized by the Independent Authority for Public Revenue
- Greek tobacco company, Papastratos (a subsidiary of Philip Morris International) and producer of Assos and Malboro cigarettes, etc has donated 50 respirators to the health ministry which will distribute them to ICU units…
***
And, I leave you on
this (literal) note.
Living in the great
indoors has taken its toll on us in varying degrees. This photo was taken last
Wednesday, March 11 the first day of the nationwide school shutdown. This mysterious
gift was found at the entrance to my apartment building. The post-it note is
written in English:
I love you girl!
You deserve so much better. They are all idiots! [idiots underlined twice] Don’t let them
ruin your mood!
The gift is a
strawberry-Oreo flavored chocolate bar and m&m-like candy. I’m assuming it was left for the only kid
in the building, a tween in the apartment next to mine. Perhaps the sender thought that none of the adults in this building could possibly speak English, certainly not the girl's parents... Earlier in the day I had
overheard (thin walls) some arguing, the slamming of doors and stomping from the apartment next door, and
I’m assuming said tween was not allowed to go out with her friends/admirer.
Ah, young love in
the time of coronavirus…
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