Greece confirmed on Monday that it will resume direct flights to/from UK on July 15 and announced it will resume direct flights to/from Sweden on July 22, 2020. At the same time, it said it is considering resuming of flights to/from third countries such as the USA by the end of the month.
Government spokesman Stelios Petsas said that there is consideration to resume flights with the U.S. by the end of July and under the precondition that tourists will show a “negative” COVID-19 test.
At the same time, he reiterated that tourists entering Greece via the Promachonas border-crossing will have to show to authorities a “negative Covid-19 test” as of July 15, and that controls will intensify there.
From July 1 to July 11, a total of 67,797 tests were conducted at the country’s gates with 218 (0.35%) of them be “positive”. Confirmed cases at Promachonas are four times more than at Athens international airport, for example, Petsas added.
The government spokesman said that control checks will intensify also that the borders with Albania, the Kakavia crossing, where 1,011 targeted tests were carried out over the weekend, as well as at Krystalopogi.
Petsas said that local festivals (πανηγύρια) and large gathering events will likely stop at least until the end of July. The restrictions will no affect “family gatherings”, he said adding that announcements will be made Monday afternoon.
He stressed that there has been a spike both among arriving tourists and among the local population. He said that over 590 control checks were conducted over the weekend across the country.
Video: beach bar in Achaia
Religious gatherings and crowding at beach bars were not controlled, though.
Gathering to honor the memory of Elder Paisios in Ioannina on Sunday.
Greece saw a resurgence of conoravirus cases since the beginning of July, with the majority of them to be located among tourists via Promachonas, as well as an increase of infections among the native population last week.
Especially affected are Kozani, western Macedonia in the North, the city of Thessaloniki but also the Prefecture of Attica where the Greek capital Athens is located.
What worries health experts is that of the 9 latest cases in Kozani, 7 are “unsourced.”
Greek epidemiologists warn that “we are already sailing on the 2. wave of coronavirus in the country.
This is so incredibly irresponsible of the Greek government to consider allowing US tourists enter! I hope the EU reprimands Greece for this decision. This is a health risk to the Greek citizens and other visiting tourists from other nations. It clearly demonstrates that the Greek government only cares about the economy and NOT the wellbeing or health of the public.