Greek tourism minister thanks Erotokritou twins, Chinese citizens for face mask donation

Greek twins Marianna and Sofia Erotokritou delivered this week the last batch of thousands of protective face masks purchased with donations made by Chinese citizens to assist Greece in its battle against COVID-19, they told Xinhua on Wednesday.

The twins, who have been living and studying in China since 2013 and have become informal ambassadors of Sino-Greek friendship, were received by Greek Tourism Minister Harry Theocharis and Deputy Tourism Minister Manos Konsolas on Monday.

The last batch of 2,800 masks were part of the 10,000 masks they had bought with the support of their Chinese friends on social media after launching a campaign via WeChat, a Chinese multi-purpose messaging, social media and mobile payment app developed by Tencent, this spring.

Theocharis thanked the sisters and the Chinese donors for the masks, which will be distributed to Tourism Ministry employees across Greece, said an e-mailed press release issued by the ministry.

"I would like to thank all those people who were mobilized in China, a country so far away from here, for their precious and moving aid," the minister said.

Theocharis also said that the twins will be formally appointed "Ambassadors of Greek Tourism in China" in acknowledgment of their efforts to promote Greece in China, once the Greek parliament passes the relevant bill.

The two sisters have also produced several tourist videos in Chinese about Greece's destinations, culture and way of life.

"China is a good friend of Greece with a significant civilization, like ours. We are very happy that Chinese citizens showed such solidarity with Greece. We express our gratitude and congratulate the two girls for their work," Konsolas said, according to the press statement.

The twins took the initiative to gather masks for Greece with the help of their Chinese friends while stranded in Athens since January.

They had returned home to spend the Spring Festival holidays with their parents.

Once the virus started spreading in Greece, they took action. In May and June, the twins delivered masks to the Greek police, the Ministry of Migration and Asylum, and a hospital in Athens.

Greece has registered 3,589 COVID-19 cases, including 193 deaths, since Feb. 26, when the first infection was diagnosed in the country, according to the latest count published on Tuesday.

Following a lockdown this spring and the implementation of protection measures that are still in effect, the spread of the virus has slowed down, but as the country has opened to tourism in recent weeks, authorities call on visitors and locals to continue to keep safe distance and wear masks when needed.