The government’s decision for the mandatory use of face masks in all indoor public places between August 1-31 has been published in the Government Gazette.
Last Update: Monday August 17, 2020 time: 16:26
Read bellow the last update with additional protection measures against the spread of the coronavirus into effect on Monday August 17, 2020
Eating places, people with medical issues – such as difficulties breathing – or children under 3 years of age are exempted from the mask-wearing measure, as are hairdressers’ establishments and beauty parlors if facial care is performed.
In addition, restrictions are imposed on visits to retirement homes, facilities for vulnerable people, refugee centers and hospitals (to Aug. 15), excepting people accompanying patients, while ceremonies for life events such as baptisms, marriages and funerals are restricted to 100 people each (Aug. 3-15), keeping social distancing.
This coming week in particular (August 3 to 8), nightclubs, bars, live-music venues, bar-restaurants, cafes and such may only allow seated clients, not standing-room only. Recommended social distances must be observed at beaches, and public and private boats, throughout the month of August, while all open-air events, including saints’ festivals, are banned until August 31.
In addition, the suspension of air and land connections with Turkey, Albania and North Macedonia is extended to August 15. Also extended to August 15 are the requirements for visitors who enter Greece via Promahonas border station to have tested negatively over the last 72 hours prior to entry, and the same is true for air passengers from Bulgaria, Romania and the United Arab Emirates.
Anti-coronavirus curfews and group exodus restrictions at all refugee accommodation facilities and hotspots nationwide are extended to August 31. Effective since March 23, the curfews restrict to and from movement from facilities to the hours between 07:00 and 21:00, with a maximum 150 refugees allowed to leave per hour, and that in groups of no more than 10 people.
Meanwhile, intensive checks for the diligent observance of preventive measures against the coronavirus were on Saturday launched by the regular and traffic police and the Coast Guard.
Some 655 inspections were carried out on city buses in Attica on Saturday, with 11 violations for not wearing a mask confirmed and the violators fined each 150 euros.
In addition, traffic police located 6 long-distance coaches (KTEL) at the toll booths of Afidnes and Elefsina with a large number of passengers – above the allowed capacity for social distancing.
Finally, a 1,500-euro fine was filed against the temporary organizer of a concert by popular Greek singer Sokratis Malamas, which was held on Friday night in Kavala, with attendees exceeding the allowed 1,000 safety mark.
Additional protection measures against the spread of the coronavirus into effect on Monday August 17, 2020
The new package of protection measures against the spread of the coronavirus came into effect on Monday morning. Among the measures announced by Civil Protection Minister Nikos Hardalias:
-All restaurants, bars and catering businesses will close from 00:00 until 07:00 in the region of Attica, the islands of the Saronic Gulf and on the islands of Kythira until August 24.
-50 person-limit in all public and social events except those in which special protection measures are applied as restaurants, theatres, cinemas, until August 24 at the epidemiologically burdened areas which include the regions of Crete, eastern Macedonia and Thrace, Thessaloniki, Halkidiki, Larissa, Corfu as well as the municipalities of Mykonos, Paros, Santorini, Volos, Katerini, Rhodes, Antiparos, Zakynthos and Kos.
-The whole package of measures applied on Poros is extended to the island of Paros and Antiparos until August 24. These measures ban any congregation over 9 persons for any reason in public and private areas and four-person limit per table except for families and mandatory use of face masks throughout the island in both outdoor and indoor areas.
-The measures on Poros island are extended to August 24
-Mandatory use of face masks in military camps, migrants and refugees hosting facilities and solidarity structures
-Civil servants and private sector employees belonging to vulnerable groups will work from home or back office until August 31.
Additionally, Hardalias urged for the use of face masks to people returning home from holidays in highly burdened areas and recommended the use of face mask at all indoors facilities. when the necessary distance is not possible to be kept.
217 new confirmed coronavirus cases in Greece in last 24 hrs
The National Public Health Organization (EODY) announced 217 confirmed novel coronavirus cases on Sunday, of which 15 were identified at entry points to Greece.
A total of 7,075 cases have been recorded in Greece since the pandemic broke out in this country, with 1,667 of these related to travel abroad and 3,353 related to an already known case.
Twenty-four people are in ICUs, and their median age is 63 years. They include 8 women. Exactly half have an underlying condition or are aged 70 or above. Another 136 have been discharged from ICUs since the start of the pandemic in Greece.
In addition, 2 people died since Saturday, bringing the fatalities total to 228. Of these, 79 were women. The median age was 77 years of age and 95.6 pct of the deceased had an underlying condition.
Breaking down the 217 new cases since Saturday, EODY said 199 were full-time residents of Greece, and of these 21 had travelled domestically. Another 16 were connected to known clusters of infections.
In terms of regions, most cases were located in Attica (73, with 13 linked to domestic travel), Thessaloniki (37, of which 3 were linked to known clusters and 8 to domestic travel), Chania and Iraklio on Crete (14 and 10, respectively) and Evros (11, linked to a known cluster). The rest of the listed regions of Greece had 1-3 confirmed cases of infections.
