Greece orders COVID self-testing for service workers

ATHENS, April 14 (Reuters) - Greece will make self-testing
for COVID-19 compulsory for service workers in sectors including
shops, restaurants and transport, authorities said on Wednesday,
as the government looks to gradually reopen the economy.

Greece, which coped relatively well during the first wave of
the pandemic, was forced to tighten restrictions to combat a
surge in infections from late last year.

After starting mass distribution of home-testing kits for
high school students and teachers before they returned to
classes this week, testing will be extended to more workers,
Greek ministers said on Wednesday.

As well as retail, restaurant and transport staff, workers
in cleaning services, hair salons and betting shops will be
required to do one test a week from April 19, Labour Minister
Kostis Hatzidakis told a weekly COVID-19 briefing.

"We are drafting self-testing to control the spread of the
coronavirus at work," Hatzidakis said, announcing fines for
employers who do not ensure the tests are carried out.

Authorities reported 3,089 new cases and 81 deaths from
COVID-19 on Wednesday. The pandemic has now caused a total of
304,184 infections in Greece along with 9,135 deaths.

Hospitals around Athens and the northern city of
Thessaloniki have struggled to cope in recent months. The
situation in the wider Athens area, where nearly half of the
country's 11 million population lives, has stabilised, Health
Minister Vassilis Kikilias told reporters.

But he cautioned against complacency and called on Greeks to
get vaccinated. "Book a date, go get inoculated and protect your
family," he said.

Greece has only recently ramped up vaccinations with the
Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca shots.

The head of the European Union's executive commission said
on Wednesday EU countries will receive 50 million more COVID-19
vaccines produced by Pfizer and BioNTech in the second quarter,
with deliveries set for the end of the year brought forward.

That decision means Greece will get an additional tranche of
1.2 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine by June, Kikilias said.
(Reporting by Angeliki Koutantou
Editing by Mark Heinrich)