'Nick Hard' And The Soft-spoken Professor Keeping Greeks Virus-safe

Athens, April 6 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 6th Apr, 2020 ) :A hard-hitting ex-mayor with a penchant for upper body selfies and a soft-spoken health professor are the duo behind Greece's drive to keep the coronavirus cases to manageable numbers.

Deputy minister for civil protection Nikos Hardalias and infectious diseases specialist Sotiris Tsiodras oversee Greece's daily briefing on the virus, mixing life-saving advice with stern warnings.

The country of 11 million has so far registered 73 deaths and 1,735 cases, far below other European countries.

In some respects, the two men are polar opposites.

Tsiodras has been known to visibly fight back tears as he reads the daily death toll and urges Greeks to protect elderly loved ones.

"Every life won, every death avoided gives us strength to carry on," he said Saturday, his voice cracking.

A poll last week gave the disease expert an 89-percent approval rating.

Hardalias comes across as the bad cop in the unlikely partnership, repeatedly hammering home a message of unbending discipline to quarantine.

"Difficult weeks lie ahead... If we relax our efforts, the virus will destroy us," Hardalias said in Saturday's nationally televised briefing, as he announced a three-week extension to Greece's lockdown on non-essential movement.

There would be "zero tolerance" for anyone trying to get around the restrictions, he warned.

In past news conferences he has poured scorn on some of the excuses offered by those caught out, such as claims of broken plumbing at summer homes.