More than 1,000 people gathered on Wednesday night at a well-known beach bar in Alimos suburb located in the Athens Riviera. The people crowded without keeping social distancing, danced, drunk and flirted under the sound of loud music and the smoke of fireworks.
It was the first party of the summer season for this well known beach bar. And the last one.
Authorities shut it down for 60 days and imposed to owners a fine of 20,000. just like they did on Saturday to a beach bar on Mykonos.
The mayor of Alimos, Andreas Kondylis, told OPEN TV that the party was “unprecedented,” for the coronavirus pandemic is still in the country.
He said that he initially though to impose a 20-day shut down but then he changed his mind thinking of the Mykonos example.
“The measures that the government has taken for pandemic must be observed, and no guardians are needed for their implementation,” he added.
The beach bar had reportedly advertised for the opening party on social media. The feedback was impressive. And so were the videos posted also on social media by the young crowd.
The bar owners refrained from commenting and said there will be soon a statement by their lawyer.
Beach bar employees denied the crowding saying that the people were sitting at their tables.
Several Greek health experts have recently warned how the loud music can increase contamination with the virus.
“Loud music forces people to stay close and shout in order to be heard and this automatically transfers droplets. Even an asymptomatic carrier can transmit the virus to 400 people in such an environment, ” Professor of Microbiology at the School of Public Health, Alkiviadis Vatopoulos, told OPEN TV.
According to a report by Alpha TV, music should be neither quick nor too slow and the volume must be moderate.
PS Both health experts and the government must urgently decided whether they want entertainment facilities in Greece open or not.
