Update – 31/05/2021
May 31, 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 is 401,301. 30 new deaths were reported raising the total number to 12,054. The number of patients treated in intensive care units is currently 497. 907 new cases were announced yesterday in Greece. 445 of the new cases were found in the Attica region and 92 new cases in the Thessaloniki region.
Coronavirus vaccination now extended to people aged 30-34 in Greece
People aged 30-34 are now able to set appointments for Covid-19 vaccinations as of Saturday May 29, at the official website emvolio.gov.gr. The appointments platform opened for the 35-39 age group on May 26 and for the 40-44 age group on May 21.
Vaccines produced by Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca, and Johnson & Johnson are now available for all age groups from 30 and over, as announced recently. All four are also available for people with underlying conditions, those in high-risk groups, employees in health services, and all general education teachers and administrators.
In addition, as of Saturday, people aged over 18 can be inoculated with the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine. It has to be noted that the one-dose Johnson and Johnson vaccine has been chosen by Greek authorities to vaccinate the entire population that lives in the country’s islands, in an attempt to boost the tourist season as soon as possible for 2021.
The vaccination program is proceeding at a fast rate. Greece is currently third among the 27 EU countries in the rolling seven-day average of vaccinations per 100,000 people, and fifth in the percentage of the population that is now fully vaccinated.
The Greek government announced on Friday the reopening of gums and other open sports facilities as of May 31, easing further social activities as the tourist season begins.
Deputy Civil Protection Minister Nikos Hardalias said with strict hygiene measures will be enforced in gyms, including masks, adding however that some changes will be made in the protocols to accommodate for exercises that cannot be done with a face covering.
He also said that the percentage of compulsory remote work will be decreased to 25 percent from 50 percent, both in the private and public sector.
Hardalias also announced the approval of elections and electoral assemblies of unions and other bodies with up to 150 registered members on Tuesday. However, he noted that allowing music in restaurants is not currently being discussed, as it is considered high risk, and could jeopardize the country’s improving epidemiological picture.
Tourist industry uncertain due to Coronavirus pandemic
Tourist industry officials and organizations are predicting that tourist flows to Greece from abroad will start to pick up significantly from late June or early July onward, the deputy president of the Greek hoteliers union Christina Tetradi told state-run AMNA news agency on Sunday.
At the same time, May was almost a ”dead” month for Greece’s tourism as foreign arrivals were almost non-existent. Most of the country’s hotels have already postponed their opening for after mid-June. Roughly 10 percent of Greek hotels have opened after the official start of the tourism season in mid-May with most of them waiting until the coast becomes clear with respect to Greece’s main markets.
These include the UK, Germany, Russia, and Scandinavian countries, such as Norway and Sweden.
Meanwhile, tour operators were pressing for ever-lower prices and their flights were arriving with few passengers on board.
It was essential for Greece to become green on the ECDC map, Tetradi emphasised, saying that this will be the deciding factor for the last-minute travellers.
She highlighted June 7 as a key date, when the UK will announce whether Greece will go ‘green’ for Britons, meaning that they don’t have to quarantine on their return.
The season has also got off to a slow start on Rhodes, where only 25 of its 650 hotels are now open, while roughly a quarter are open in Heraklion on Crete.
Mayors in smaller island destinations, meanwhile, report a more hopeful picture and said that the fast vaccination on islands, combined with low cases, have generated confidence, with bookings coming from Greece, France, Germany and Italy, as well as Balkan markets, in July and August.
According to Michael Vamiedakis, founder of a hotel chain and the Deltanet Travel agency, another key factor that would play a crucial role in the coming months would be avoiding bad developments on the pandemic front in October and November.
A potential new wave of cases in the months of early autumn in 2021 would be disastrous for 2022, as this is when the flight planning for the following year is done and hoteliers and travel agents start negotiations for new contracts and bookings for the coming year.
In more detail, the 907 new cases detected per Regional Unit:
