Greece tightens restrictions banning the sales of alcohol ten regional units and municipalities, including Attica, two in Crete, three in Macedonia as well as in some Cyclades and Ionian islands. he measure aims to contain the spread of the coronavirus.
Head of Civil Protection and Deputy Minister for Crisis Management Nikos Hardalias announced during the live briefing on Friday that the additional measures will be in force in regions that are epidemiologically burdened.
The government has decided to ban the operation of kiosks, mini markets, liquor stores from midnight until 5 a.m. the following morning, Hardalias said..
The ban will reportedly go into force in the regions of Attica, Chania, Heraklio, Halkidiki, Imathia, Kilkis, Pieria. Zakynthos, Lesvos and Mykonos.
Exempted from the ban are fuel stations and pharmacies.
The measure will be in force for 2 weeks, from 5:00 a.m. Saturday, September 26, until Saturday, October 4, 2020.
The reasoning behind this ban is that citizens, especially the youth, buy alcohol from these stores, gather and crowd at squares when cafes and bars close at midnight – which is another restriction due to the pandemic.
At the same time, the stores of “health interest” (cafes etc) in the areas of special restrictive measures and epidemiological surveillance that close at 12 midnight to 7 in the morning, will be allowed to open as of 5:00 a.m from Saturday, Sept 26. 2020.
The deputy minister said that “the spread of the coronavirus and the pressure on the health system forced the government to take additional measures in order to implement the existing ones and at the same time to avoid overcrowding, which is observed mainly by young people, after 12 midnight.” , in areas around kiosks and other shops that sell alcohol. “
Hardalias pointed out that “we are at a critical point” stressing that “the pandemic development depends on all of us individually.”
He stressed that “If everyone wears a mask and carries hand sanitizers, we won’t need a lockdown or more measures. It is the best way to beat the virus.”
Coronavirus cases in Greece reached 16,913 and death toll 369 on Friday, after a resurgence of the pandemic in the last two months. Over 100 COVID-19 patients died alone in September.
“If the measures do not decrease the cases we will go in quarantine,” Hardalias said, even though the Greek government tries to avoid a new lockdown.
PS I was told by my hairdresser that kiosks do not sell alcohol after midnight, anyway. Nevertheless, our neighborhood kiosk has been closing at midnight since … always. For urgently arising needs, we can still buy beers and other drinks until 1 minute before 12. Then we turn into pumpkins…
SUNDAY October 4th
Has anybody any idea what epidemiological data the government is using to make these decisions? On the government’s own map, Chania is in the 0-4 category of cases per 100,000 population in the last 10 days, Rethymnon is in the 5-9 category and Heraklion is in the 10-49 category. How can Chania, which is being restricted, be more dangerous than Rethymnon, which is not?
If you track back through the reported geographical location of confirmed cases, Chania has had 3 cases in the last 10 days which translates to just under 2 per 100,000 population. Personally I couldn’t care less about the restrictions and I am all in favour of doing everything possible to stop the virus but making obviously stupid decisions is what fuels resistance from the public.
the decisions are not based on pure x:100K but on the spreading factor within a cluster. we reported about it.