Greece announced on Friday that it will fully open all its airports to flights from abroad and all border crossings on July 1. All ferries will also be operative as of that date.
While presenting the updated tourist-season measures, Tourism Minister Harry Theoharis and Health Minister Vassilis Kikilias made the following announcements:
The announcements include the following:
– All Greek airports will welcome all flights from abroad as of July 1.
– Restrictions for flights from Italy, the Netherlands and Spain will be lifted as of June 15 (when the first flights from abroad will be allowed, but only for the Athens and Thessaloniki International Airports). There will still be a ban on flights from the UK and Turkey at least until the end of June.
– The current restrictions for arrivals of yachts from abroad are still upheld, except for yachts with crews which are carrying no passengers. All sailings from other countries will fully open on July 1, except for cruise ships, whose operations will be kept on hold until further decisions are made.
– Along with the opening of all airports to foreign flights, seven overland border points will also open fully on July 1. (Which exact border crossings these will be was not disclosed by the government spokesmen).
“Our plan is comprehensive, and we have already carried out emergency drills,” Theocharis said.
The Minister added that random testing will take place at airports for the novel coronavirus, and visitors will be obliged to wait for test results at a designated hotel.
The government has now decided on a 1-day quarantine at a hotel for negative results and a 14-day quarantine for positive ones.
Both mobile and floating units at airports and islands, respectively, will be collecting test samples. Islands will be able to process results quickly, thanks to local analyzing equipment which will be installed at island centers.
The Minister also added that “446 simple beds and 19 intensive care unit beds for COVID-19 have been reserved on islands,” which may be expandable to 674 and 79, respectively, if need be.
“All health centers and facilities on the islands are prepared and will be in operation 24 hours daily,” Kikilias said, while more doctors, who have trained using emergency drills, have now been appointed to be on duty on islands.
(With information from AMNA)
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