Update – 23/07/2020

As of the latest update by the Greek authorities yesterday, the total number of confirmed Covid-19 diagnosed cases in Greece is 4,077. Greece’s National Organization for Public Health (EODY) announced on Wednesday three new deaths in the past 24 hours in the country which raised the total number to 200 since the start of the outbreak, while the great majority had underlying health issues. The number of patients treated in intensive care units stands at 10, while 124 patients have left the intensive care unit. 

In its daily bulletin, EODY said 32 new cases were confirmed by health authorities in the past 24 hours, of which nine were detected in the country’s entry points. A total of 424,675 diagnostic lab tests have been carried out nationwide.

Relaunching daily briefings on the course of the coronavirus pandemic in Greece, Deputy Minister for Civil Protection Nikos Hardalias said on Tuesday that the aim was to ensure the public remains aware of the need to heed safety measures, while ruling out the prospect of another nationwide lockdown. Even localized lockdowns are unlikely “if each of us do what is required,” Hardalias said. He indicated that a ban on village festivals, the so-called “panigyria,” would likely be extended through August.

The new cases of coronavirus are increasing significantly in Athens and Thessaloniki, a fact which, although of not great concern to epidemiologists, reflects the effects of the entry of tourists to the country. So far, the absolute data of EODY show 106 new cases in Athens and 59 in Thessaloniki, after the 1st of July and the opening of the airports of the two cities. The pandemic is moving steadily upwards as it seems that on average, we have 30 new domestic cases being confirmed daily. Beyond them there are several – perhaps more – which have not been traced, despite the good work in terms of traceability carried out by the health authorities.

TOURISM

• Greek tourism revenue suffered a massive blow in May 2020 – the first month of the tourism season – due to the outbreak of Covid-19 with travel receipts plummeting by 99.2 percent to 13 million euros from 1.56 billion euros in May last year, according to tentative data released by the Bank of Greece (BoG) on Tuesday. In the first five months of 2020, Greek travel receipts dropped by 78.5 percent to 614 million euros, with travel payments down by 65.1 percent to 399 million euros.

• Central bank analysts attribute the May decline to a 97.7 percent drop in inbound traveler flows and a 62.9 percent decrease in average spending per trip. Meanwhile, travel payments also decreased by 98.2 percent in May 2020 to 4 million euros from 228 million euros in May 2019. The BoG cites a 38.7 percent decline in average expenditure per trip and a 63.8 percent decrease in inbound traveler flows for the five-month drop in travel receipts.

• The Covid-19 impact is also clearly reflected in the number of inbound visitors in May, which dropped by 97.7 percent year-on-year to 56 thousand. Specifically, visitor flows through airports came to a standstill, with incoming travelers through road border-crossing points down by 87.9 percent. Central bank analysts attribute the overall decrease to lower EU and non-EU visitor flows – down by 98.2 percent and 96.9 percent, respectively.

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