Greek authorities are expected to announce a relaxation of the Covid-19 lockdown measures, with as the Infectious Disease Committee experts will table their proposals to the government on Wednesday.

The experts are in the process of collecting relevant data on the epidemiological curve and the pressure on hospitals and will present a framework for lifting some of the restrictions on Wednesday. However, according to the sources, they may need another day to reach their final decisions. The pressure on the National Health System is immense with the intubated having reached 738, as announced in Monday’s update, however, infectious disease specialists hope we are reaching the peak of the third wave of the pandemic in our country. If their hopes are vindicated, a gradual reduction of daily cases is expected over the next few days.

Meanwhile, the government and the consulting team of experts have become aware that the current model of curbing the cases is proving ineffective, in comparison to initial estimations, mainly due to the accumulated fatigue of the citizens after a year of pandemic and restrictive measures. Citizens are in favour of the immediate lifting of the restrictions, as reflected in polls conducted.

In this context, at the crucial meeting on Wednesday, the Infectious Diseases Committee is expected to “formulate” its proposal which will be presented to the government in order to issue the relevant announcements immediately, either on the same day, or the following day (Thursday).

According to the information of protothema.gr, the new framework is expected to take effect immediately from next weekend.

Government officials speaking to protothema.gr note that the data are not the same compared to a month or two ago stressing the situation is looking better. What is becoming more apparent is, if the scientists give the “green light”, that the country, aided by the good weather, the vaccination but also any improvement of the epidemiological data, can hope for a better summer.

As protothema.gr is in the position to know, first in the series of upcoming announcements are the inter-municipal movements which are expected to be allowed from the morning of Saturday, April 3.

Retail and most likely small stores are expected to reopen, based on the information so far. Regarding their operating framework, the click away method, as protothema.gr has been informed, is no longer being considered as an option, with stores most likely operating with only a limited number of customers inside the premises on the basis of size.

On the pressing issue of schools, it is still not clear what course of action the government will choose to take. This is because in the government from the first moment they had linked the return of students to schools with the conduct of self-tests. Their supply will therefore determine when the schools will open.

At this stage, it seems that the government would like retail and schools to reopen simultaneously, however especially for the second, the date will depend on when the self-tests will have arrived in our country.