Update – 16/07/2021
July 16, 2021
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As of the latest update by the Greek authorities, the total number of confirmed Covid-19 diagnosed cases in Greece 450.512. 6 new deaths were reported raising the total number to 12.819. The number of patients treated in intensive care units is currently 132. 2.794 new cases were announced yesterday in Greece. 1.190 of the new cases were found in the Attica region and 198 new cases in the Thessaloniki region.
New public health rules kick in across Greece on Friday, with open-air leisure and entertainment venues like restaurants, bars, cinemas and theaters having to post a sign at the door indicating their coronavirus safety level.
The official signs will state whether the establishment is “Covid-free,” meaning it caters only to patrons who can produce an official certificate of full immunity, a “mixed space” – in orange and blue – and thereby also admitting unvaccinated individuals with a negative PCR or rapid test taken within the last 72 or 48 hours respectively, and whether it has a “fully vaccinated staff” (the sign depicts a syringe and a green check mark).
The new rules are designed to give more freedom to people who have been vaccinated against Covid-19 and encourage others to get the shot, while also allowing business owners and managers in the food and beverage industries, in tourism-related sectors and in other areas of leisure and entertainment to choose the Covid-free option in exchange for a higher occupancy rate or to serve both categories but provide less seating.
Indoor venues, meanwhile, will only be allowed to operate as Covid-free spaces and will also enjoy the higher, 85% occupancy rate. Bars, cafes and clubs, moreover, will not be allowed to serve standing guests, only those seated at tables.
Central, northern and western parts of Athens, along with the broader areas of eastern and western Attica and the port city of Piraeus have all gone up one step before the highest coronavirus transmission alert level (red or Level 4) on the updated epidemiological map of Greece that was presented on Thursday.
They are joined at Level 3, color-coded orange, by Grevena in northern Greece, Ioannina in the west and Larissa in central Greece, as well as the islands of Salamina and Paros.
Infection numbers are also rising at another 16 regional units, which went up to Level 2 (or yellow) on the map presented by Deputy Civil Protection Minister Nikos Hardalias at the Health Ministry’s daily briefing on the course of the pandemic. They are: Karditsa, Lassithi, Messinia, Andros, Achaia, Kozani, Tinos, Preveza, Zakynthos, Syros, Lesvos, Thessaloniki, Thesprotia, Arkadia, Kefalonia and Aetoloakarnania. The municipalities of Ikaria, Leros, Kythnos, Lefkada, Milos, Serifos, Antiparos and Chios also went up a level to yellow.
The only municipality to show an improvement and to drop to the lowest alert level, 1 or green, was Leipsoi in the eastern Aegean.
Health authorities are also keeping a very close eye on transmission rates at four of Greece’s most popular holiday islands – Mykonos, Ios, Paros and Santorini – as well as in the municipalities of Iraklio and Rethymno in Crete.
Areas that continue to deteriorate to reach Level 4 will likley face localized lockdowns and other measures to contain the spread of the virus.
Another nationwide coronavirus lockdown is not in the offing for Greece, according to Greece’s Development and Investment Minister Adonis Georgiadis, who made his remarks on Thursday in response to the spike in coronavirus infections around the country.
However, localized lockdowns — only for those who remain unvaccinated — may be imposed if the epidemiological situation does not improve. In an interview with Skai TV on Thursday, Georgiadis emphasized that those Greek citizens who have been vaccinated will not face restrictions, since they are indeed protected from the virus.
Thousands of people protested against mandatory vaccinations and other measures imposed by the Greek government to tackle the pandemic in Athens, Thessaloniki and other cities around Greece on Wednesday.
Alongside the around 4,000 that turned out in front of the Greek Parliament in Athens, police said several hundred people also took to the streets in the cities of Thessaloniki, Ioannina and Heraklion for the same reason. These were the largest demonstrations in Greece against mandatory vaccination, state radio reported.
The demonstrations followed the Greek government’s announcement recently that only vaccinated people would be allowed to eat inside at restaurants and to enter cultural institutions. Immune-only venues and spaces in Greece will be only for those who have been fully vaccinated or have immunity through having had the virus in the last six months.
Everyone must also have the corresponding certificate to prove their status to gain access to the venues. The plan also allows for “mixed” venues which also grant access to the unvaccinated — but only if they have a negative a rapid or PCR test for Covid. The measures can apply to either indoor areas or open spaces that are likely to be crowded. Carers and health care workers will also require vaccination under the new rules, with those refusing facing dismissal. Compulsory vaccination will also apply to those serving in the armed forces, including conscripts.
Demonstrators complained that people who refuse to vaccinate for different reasons were having an increasingly difficult time, and that they should retain the right not to be vaccinated. Although they are a minority in Greece according to several recent opinion polls, analysts say that their movement could grow, undermining the authorities’ efforts to vaccinate more Greeks.
Greek officials announced on Thursday that unvaccinated tourism and food workers on islands with high Covid-19 infection rates will have to take two coronavirus tests a week.
The measure, announced by Deputy Civil Protection Minister Nikos Hardalias during a press conference, came in the wake of a spike in Covid-19 cases on the islands of Mykonos (where the average of new daily infections quadrupled over the past week), Ios, Paros and Santorini, as well as in the municipalities of Iraklio and Rethymno in Crete. Workers will have to take one rapid and one self-test per week. Hardalias said the same obligation will apply to ferry workers who have not been vaccinated against Covid-19.
In more detail, the 2.794 new cases detected per Regional Unit:
