By Penny Bouloutza

Doctors, nurses and paramedics on the Greek islands will be receiving special training geared at dealing with coronavirus-related emergencies ahead of the relaunch of the tourism season next month.

Teams of paramedics from the National Center of Emergency Care (EKAV) on Tuesday began heading to the country’s islands – which have seen only a handful of cases since the start of the pandemic in Greece in late February – to help better prepare hospital and medical centers to deal with Covid-19 patients.

EKAV’s Be SAFE (Stay Alert, Fully Educated) program began on Tuesday on the island of Syros, the capital of the Cyclades, and will continue this week in Naxos, Paros and Antiparos, before reaching the rest of the islands by June 20.

In the meantime, the National Organization for Public Health (EODY) and the NGO Symplefsi also started sending teams to the country’s remoter islands on Monday to conduct coronavirus tests on local populations, beginning with Milos, Kimolos, Folegandros and Sikinos.

The initiatives come as the Greek government lifted restrictions on ferryboat services on Monday and is planning to gradually open up the country to tourism from abroad starting in June.

This article was previously published at ekathimerini.com.