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Fears of a fourth COVID wave grow in Greece as new cases skyrocket to 7,335

The Greek Herald
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Fears of a fourth COVID wave grow in Greece as new cases skyrocket to 7,335

Greece announced 7,335 new coronavirus infections on Monday, the highest number since the start of the pandemic in the country, breaking the record for the third time in two weeks. 

According to Ekathimerini, there were also 65 deaths, up from 52 the previous day, bringing the total number to 16,361.

This news comes as vaccination appointments shot up after new restrictions on unvaccinated people kicked in over the weekend.

Senior health ministry official, Marios Themistocleous, told a briefing on Monday that over the past seven days there’s been an 185% increase in first vaccination appointments and a 200% surge in booster shot appointments.

“It’s a very important increase,” he said. “What has changed is the introduction of the new measures and the high number of infections… But this must continue, and the pace of appointments must increase.”

READ MORE: Healthcare workers in Greece protest mandatory vaccines as COVID cases remain above 6,000.

Under the measures that came into effect on Saturday, unvaccinated people in Greece can only enter banks, government departments and most shops if they show a recent negative COVID-19 test. The same applies to outdoor restaurant and café areas, while only vaccinated people are allowed indoors at such establishments.

READ MORE: Greece tightens restrictions on unvaccinated as COVID-19 cases reach record high.

Unrestricted access is still allowed for supermarkets, shops selling food and pharmacies. Unvaccinated people must also present two negative tests weekly to access their workplaces.

The country has so far recorded nearly 800,000 infections and more than 16,300 deaths.

Source: AP News.

Sydney’s Cretan community commemorates the Arkadi holocaust with solemn church service

Andriana Simos
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Sydney’s Cretan community commemorates the Arkadi holocaust with solemn church service

A solemn church service and memorial was held at St Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church in Marrickville on Sunday to commemorate the 155th anniversary of the Arkadi Monastery holocaust.

Organised by the Cretan Association of Sydney and New South Wales, the event is held annually to remember the Cretans who paid the ultimate sacrifice at the Monastery of Arkadi in 1866. 

  • All photos: The Greek Herald / Andriana Simos.
Cretan youth stood at the front of the church during the service.

This year, Cretan youth stood proudly at the front of the church dressed in traditional costumes and wearing a face mask due to the current COVID-19 restrictions in NSW.

The church service was presided over by His Grace Bishop Emilianos of Meloa, accompanied by the Very Reverend Archimandrite Christodoulos of Magnesia, the Very Reverend Archimandrite Prochoros of Charioupolis, and the Very Reverend Archimandrite Christophoros, among many other priests.

  • All photos: The Greek Herald / Andriana Simos.

Also present on the day were Costas Yiannakodimos, representing the Consul General of Greece in Sydney, Christos Karras, Terry Saviolakis, President of the Cretan Association of Sydney & NSW, and Maria Lagoudakis, Vice President of the Cretan Federation of Australia and New Zealand.

“It is an honour to be here today. It is an important day as we remember the Cretan sacrifice and battle for freedom in Arkadi on November 9, 1866. May God rest their souls. They will always be in our memory and heart,” Mr Yiannakodimos told The Greek Herald on the day.

Cretan youth with the President of the Cretan Association of Sydney & NSW, Terry Saviolakis (L) and Costas Yiannakodimos representing the Consul General of Greece in Sydney. Photo: The Greek Herald / Andriana Simos.

In a small speech after the service, Bishop Emilianos also acknowledged the ultimate sacrifice paid by the Cretans during the Arkadi holocaust and encouraged everyone to remember their brave actions.

Adelaide Judge Penelope Kari opens up on gender in law and her Greek upbringing

The Greek Herald
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Adelaide Judge Penelope Kari opens up on gender in law and her Greek upbringing

At just 45 years of age, Justice Penelope Kari has gone from solicitor to barrister and now the first Australian of Greek descent to be appointed Honorable Justice to the Federal Circuit & Family Court of Australia.

In an interview with The Australian, Justice Kari says her success in South Australia’s legal industry wasn’t planned but rather she “turned off the white noise.”

She says her narrative has also been “coloured” by her grandparents, who migrated to Australia from Greece in the 1950s, and her parents, who worked multiple jobs to send her to a private school.

“I grew up being told you can do anything you set your mind to,” Justice Kari told the newspaper.

Adelaide Judge Penelope Kari.

“And that is true – but women have a different mentality and expectation on themselves, and that includes invariably being the nurturing parent and being the wife who makes the meals and all the bits and pieces. If you want to do it all really well, something has to give.”

It’s here where the conversation turns to Justice Kari’s thoughts on gender in law. She notes the gender imbalance among judges but argues she’s “not a believer in the boys’ club holding women back.”

Rather, she encourages women who want to get into law “to focus on being the best you can be and doors will open for you.”

“If you focus on what is holding you back, then that is a distraction. Don’t worry about what everyone else is doing, it is not a competition,” she concludes in the interview.

Source: The Australian.

Memorial service held in Sydney to mark the 109th anniversary of the liberation of Lesvos

Andriana Simos
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Memorial service held in Sydney to mark the 109th anniversary of the liberation of Lesvos

The 109th anniversary of the liberation of the Greek island of Lesvos was commemorated on Sunday with a special memorial service and wreath laying ceremony by the Mytilenian Brotherhood of Sydney and NSW.

The annual event took place at Saints Raphael, Nicholas and Irene Greek Orthodox Church in Liverpool to remember those fallen heroes who sacrificed their lives for Lesvos during the liberation.

  • Memorial service presided over by Father Asterios.
  • Photos supplied.

The day began with a memorial service conducted by Parish priest, Father Asterios, and this was followed by members of the Mytilenian Brotherhood carrying an icon of the Archangel Michael around church grounds.

The icon was beautifully decorated by Georgina Kokokiris with flowers donated by her mum, Helen Kokokiris.

Icon of the Archangel Michael. Photo supplied.

Later, people gathered around a cenotaph on church grounds and recited the national anthems of Greece and Australia.

The President of the Mytilenian Brotherhood, Peter Psomas, then laid a wreath to mark the anniversary and thanked everyone in attendance, including former Brotherhood Presidents and committee members, among many others.

Members of the Brotherhood held a wreath laying ceremony outside. Photo supplied.

“I think it’s an event that needs to be acknowledged. The tradition needs to be carried on. We need to acknowledge our fallen heroes and the island we come from,” Mr Psomas told The Greek Herald after the event.

“Long live freedom, long live Greece and long live our lovely island of Lesvos.”

Members of the Brotherhood. Photo supplied.

Professor Maria Kavallaris looks into how COVID technology can lead to new cancer cures

The Greek Herald
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Professor Maria Kavallaris looks into how COVID technology can lead to new cancer cures

mRNA vaccines have been a game changer for COVID-19 and now, according to The Daily Telegraph, this new technology can also be applied to vaccines for cancer, pre-eclampsia and even cures for genetic disorders.

In fact, there are at least six mRNA vaccines against influenza and HIV already in the pipeline, as well as for Nipah, zika, herpes, dengue, hepatitis and malaria.

Professor Maria Kavallaris from the Children’s Cancer Institute (CCI) told the newspaper, mRNA was the future for the treatment for cancer as well.

READ MORE: Professor Maria Kavallaris’ cancer battle at age 21 has inspired her childhood cancer research.

Professor Maria Kavallaris.

“We know some tumour cells abnormally express — let’s call them little flags on their surface,” Professor Kavallaris said.

“They are not flags, but receptors on the cell surface and these are unique to certain types of cancer cells. So, if you have vaccine therapy, immune cells recognise this rogue surface receptor, the cancer cells, and the immune system can go and attack that cancer cell.

READ MORE: Cancer researcher Maria Kavallaris among Eureka Prize finalists.

“With a vaccine you are stimulating the immune system to go and kill that cancer. The reason we get cancer is because cancer cells find ways to evade the immune system, so they are not seen. This is a way to be seen by the immune cells.”

Source: The Daily Telegraph.

Woman unknowingly helps man who minutes earlier killed her sister Tammara Macrokanis

The Greek Herald
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Woman unknowingly helps man who minutes earlier killed her sister Tammara Macrokanis

A woman who went looking for her missing sister unknowingly ended up helping the man who had just mowed down her sibling in a horrific hit and run collision, The Daily Telegraph reports.

Chenai Radnedge was searching for her sister Tammara Macrokanis, 32, on the Gold Coast on October 17, 2020 after the mother-of-five stormed out of a family gathering.

READ MORE: Man charged over crash that killed mother-of-five, Tammara Macrokanis.

Her search though was held up when she stopped to help a man lying on the ground next to his car on the shoulder of the M1 highway. 

Tammara was a mother-of-five.

Ms Radnedge at that point had no clue the man she was calling triple-zero for was Kaine Andrew Carter, who minutes earlier had fatally struck her sister while under the influence of drugs and dragged her body 60m down a highway.

When police got him off the ground, Ms Radnedge recognised him. She knew him through friends and asked if he had seen her sister – but her question received no reply.

She continued searching for Tammara until she returned home. It was hours later that the siblings’ mum, Penny Macrokanis, would wake her daughter up to the news that Ms Macrokanis had been killed in a traffic incident.

“[Carter’s ute] was still there, surrounded by police. It clicked. Kaine killed Tammara (and) I had been there not long after it happened,” Ms Radnedge told The Sunday Mail.

Kaine Andrew Carter, driver of car that killed Tammara Macrokanis.

Forensic investigators later determined Ms Macrokanis had became wedged between the bullbar of the ute and the roadside guardrail and been cut in half. 

Carter last month pleaded guilty to dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing death while adversely affected by an intoxicating substance and leaving the scene without obtaining help.

Reflecting on the scene a year later, Ms Radnedge said she regularly pulls over and stands at the tree where part of her sister’s remains were found.

“At first it was hard, I actually tried to avoid driving along the highway, and then I suppose I realised it’s something I have to live with now … I realised I had to stop jumping feet first into the life Tammara had gotten away from,” she said.

Source: The Daily Telegraph.

Cumberland Mayor Steve Christou joins NSW Premier and Health Minister at opening of new vax clinic

Andriana Simos
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0
Cumberland Mayor Steve Christou joins NSW Premier and Health Minister at opening of new vax clinic

A new vaccination centre opened in Western Sydney on Sunday as New South Wales turns its attention to booster shots.

The opening of the Granville Centre, in partnership with Cumberland City Council, comes as the Qudos Bank Arena vaccination hub closes after administering more than 360,000 COVID-19 jabs.

People aged 18 years and over will now be eligible for a Pfizer booster shot six months after receiving their second dose of any COVID-19 vaccine.

In attendance at the opening of the Granville Centre was Cumberland Mayor Steve Christou, NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet, and NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard.

Cr Christou said the centre would benefit his community and that he was excited to do whatever necessary to beat the pandemic.

The Granville Centre WSLHD Vaccination Clinic staff Derya Birnam, Maureen Hurley, Jessica King, Jonathan Herford and Madeline Grudgings. Photo: The Pulse.

“Donated by Council free of charge I would like to thank Cumberland City Council staff for their hard work,” Cr Christou said on Twitter.

The centre has the capacity to administer 1,000 booster shots per day and a surge capacity up to 2,000.

Premier Perrottet said the journey out of the pandemic was not over and the clinic would play an important role over the next 12 months.

‘Disrespects the ethos of OXI Day’: Greek Community of NT condemns anti-vaccine mandate protest

Andriana Simos
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0
‘Disrespects the ethos of OXI Day’: Greek Community of NT condemns anti-vaccine mandate protest

The Greek Orthodox Community of North Australia (GOCNA) has issued a statement condemning the behaviour of members of Darwin’s Greek community at St Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church on October 31.

About 30 people used OXI Day celebrations at the church to push anti-vaccine mandate rhetoric, calling out ‘shame, shame, shame.’

NT Opposition Leader Lia Finocchiaro, who was at the event, was also addressed in a “very confronting and intimidating manner.”

NT Opposition Leader Lia Finocchiaro was also approached at the event.

In response, GOCNA said that although they “acknowledge the importance for individuals to be free to express their views,” the OXI Day celebrations “should not have been used as a platform to express those views.”

“This indifference shown on the 31st of October disrespects the ethos of this most solemn of Greek National days and the people who feel strongly enough to commemorate it,” the GOCNA statement reads.

“We must be mindful in the future to remain civil and respectful to each other to accord the proper due respect to days such as OXI Day.”

This statement came the same afternoon St Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church was told by Bishop Silouan of Sinopen not to provide its regular Sunday service due to the current NT lockdown, the NT News reports.

READ MORE: Darwin Lord Mayor Kon Vatskalis condemns anti-vaccine mandate behaviour at Greek church.

Vatican confirms papal trip to Greece and Cyprus in December

The Greek Herald
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Vatican confirms papal trip to Greece and Cyprus in December

Pope Francis will travel to Greece and the eastern Mediterranean island nation of Cyprus on a five-day trip next month, the Vatican has confirmed.

According to AP News, the pope will visit Larnaca, Cyprus, from December 2-4, before travelling to Greece, with stops in Athens and on the island of Lesvos, from December 4-6.

READ MORE: Pope Francis to visit refugee camp on Lesvos island next month.

The Vatican released no further details of the trip.

Pope Francis has visited the Greek island of Lesvos previously in 2016.

The Cyprus leg had already been confirmed by Cypriot officials, who said that the pontiff will hold talks with Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades. Francis will be the second Roman Catholic pontiff ever to travel to the eastern Mediterranean island nation.

Francis had also previously travelled to Lesvos in 2016 to highlight the plight of refugees. 

Source: AP News.

READ MORE: Pope Francis confirms plans to visit Greece and Cyprus.

Israel to build new surveillance system along Cyprus’ Green Line

The Greek Herald
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Israel to build new surveillance system along Cyprus’ Green Line

Cyprus has signed a deal for Israel’s military to build an electronic surveillance system to monitor activity along the UN-patrolled Green Line across the divided Mediterranean island.

The 180 kilometre Green Line has split the island from east to west since 1974. It divides the Republic of Cyprus, the European Union’s most easterly member, from the self-proclaimed Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, recognised only by Ankara.

Cyprus plans on spending 27.5 million euros on the project, which will be constructed over the course of the next three years.

A woman walks her dog on the Turkish side of the green line, a UN controlled buffer zone separating the divided Cypriot capital Nicosia. Photo: AFP.

The surveillance system will be used to monitor activity such as smuggling and illegal migration, as well as provide military intelligence, officials said.

“It is an electronic surveillance system that will provide us with images 24 hours a day,” Cypriot Defence Ministry spokesperson, Christos Pieris, told the Cyprus News Agency.

In May, Cyprus said it was in a “state of emergency” because of an inflow of Syrian migrants overwhelming reception centers.

Source: The Times of Israel.

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