Hoteliers Turn Down Health Minister

Greek hoteliers recently responded negatively to Health Minister Dimitris Avramopoulos’s proposal for the use of a room in each hotel complex to isolate a tourist that would develop H1N1 (swine) flu symptoms.

“Hotels are not hospitals,” was the response of Gerassimos Fokas, president of the Hellenic Chamber of Hotels.

However, Mr. Fokas assured that Greek hotels would be in direct contact with the nearest hospital whenever a suspected incident should occur in order to contain the spread of the H1N1 flu in Greece.

Following a recent meeting of the National Flu Pandemic Committee with the health minister, Mr. Avramopoulos mentioned the wave of tourists expected to reach Greece from abroad and made it clear that all the necessary measures have been taken for travelers that would enter the country.

The health minister added that those who tested positive had traveled from countries beyond Greece and the alert level raised by the World Health Organization does not include Greece.