Greece charts course for a healthier summer

The Greek Health Ministry has put forward new proposals and ideas that would help the country remain safe during its reopening

Following an online meeting held earlier this week, the Greek Health Ministry put forward a number of proposals that would ensure the safety of Greece as the country continues to open itself to the world and as it attempts to reboot its tourism sector.

Dangers of coronavirus 2^nd wave

With Greece opening up all of its land borders and allowing flights to and from all of the country’s airports at the start of July, the risk of a 2^nd wave of COVID-19 grew substantially – most notably due to the fact that the disease could now be imported from abroad. The economic consequences of not reopening, however, would have proven far too heavy to bear for the Mediterranean country that is greatly reliant on its tourism businesses.

The influx of arrivals from adjacent countries like Bulgaria and Albania and from other parts of Europe has quickly prompted government officials to begin tightening controls that would hopefully prevent the coronavirus situation in Greece from spiralling out of control.

Some of the new measures that were put forward by the Health Ministry include the following:

• Increased testing at the border with Albania, more specifically at the Promachonas crossing, where the number of positive test results so far has been four times as high as at other entry points.
• A requirement for a certificate for a negative PCR test that has been completed in the past 72 hours – this measure has been officially enforced since Wednesday 15 July.
• The reallowing of flights to and from Sweden will still take place on schedule – namely on 22 July, while exemptions for non-EU countries will be considered on a case-by-case basis towards the end of the month.
• A request by health authorities for a ban on fairs and festivals throughout the entirety of Greece at the very least until the end of July so as to prevent an additional potential hotspot for infections.

By acting early, Greek Health Authorities hope that they will be able to prevent a rapid spread of COVID-19 which in turn will allow Greece to continue on the path towards a full-on economic reboot.