Abstract
Greece was heralded as a success story in the way the government responded to the coronavirus crisis, compared to other EU member states. Greece managed to tackle the first wave of COVID-19 with a low number of fatalities, without overburdening its frail public healthcare system. The Greek government responses were characterised by high centralisation of decision-making, driven by expert advice, consistency and clarity of message which contributed to the success above. This was surprising, considering the long-term effect of austerity on healthcare provision and the series of failed administrative reforms as a result of the Eurozone crisis. This chapter outlines the Greek response, arguing that government policy followed pre-existing patterns of administrative and institutional architecture, as well as cultural specificities and state–society relations patterns. We demonstrate the response reflected the capacity of the state to command and control its citizens but also achieve the targets that it set out in its response, i.e. saving lives over the economy.