Greece is the latest European country to go into lockdown in an effort to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. This has happened in Italy, Spain, and France as well with France having fines up to €135 for breaking the lockdown (in Lebanon, it is one year in prison).
Greece has relatively few cases of coronavirus at a current number of just over 600. There are, at present, 15 people that have died due to the coronavirus. But, the Greek Prime Minister has decided it is imperative to institute a lockdown after many people are ignoring the rules already made. Last week, businesses were closed and people were banned from meeting in groups larger than 10 people.
Also, all cafes and restaurants had to offer delivery/takeaway only or close. However, people were still moving around freely from big cities which really worried people that they could be carrying the virus into villages around the country.
Over 200 arrests have been made of people who violated the orders and kept shops running and the islands no longer permit non-island residents from taking ferries to them. In addition, the public beaches have all been closed and all hotels open for 12 months on a normal basis will be closed for over a month, starting tomorrow (with a couple of exceptions).
The Forms You Need to Be Out During the Lockdown
There are two forms available – one is for employees (to be filled out by the employer) and the other (shown below) for the permissible outings below. I guess I will need to start getting used to filling out a form to go running. 🙂 Alternatively, people can send a text message to 13033 in this way: X (number from the form below -space-name&address)
What Lockdown Will Look Like for Greece
So, they are upping the requirements and now Greece will go into a lockdown from 6am local time tomorrow (March 23). Here is what they mean by this:
- going to work (essential jobs only)
- visiting to doctor
- shopping (only at nearby grocery stores) including for medicines
- leaving home to provide assistance to family members, especially the elderly and children
- going out for exercise – solitary or in pairs
- walking the dog
- people returning to their permanent place of residence are exempt from the measure as they travel.
Everyone must carry an ID or passport with them. They also must have a written declaration about their purpose for being out. If they are in violation of the above, they will face a €150 fine. This is much higher than France which started with a €38 fine as a first time warning. But, this indicates the Greek government’s seriousness about containing this and not allowing it to get as bad as it is their fellow southern European neighbors (Italy and Spain).
From Inside
The message we received on our phones tonight about the lockdown
I actually am staying here in northern Greece (in a rental home with just my family) so we have done a final shopping swing to get a bunch of food and necessities (unlike every place in America, it is still very easy to get toilet paper here!). I will be sharing a bit about what it is like with these new measures, which I am glad exclude running from being banned! But, I actually have an activity this week that I am considering doing from inside the lockdown – stay tuned for that!
Are the tens of thousands of migrants that Erdogan is pushing into Greece subject to the lockdown?
I assume Markel and the EU won’t being paying any violation fines as she’s currently paying blackmail to Turkey.
You are in the 1%. You have a vacation home in Greece?
Haha! FAR from it! By “my” house, I mean rental that is just us, not an Airbnb or anything. And you would be very surprised at how cheap they are here (and no one comes to their vacation home in Greece in March!)
Nice. I will keep that in mind.
Do! There are some places, furnished, that aren’t far from beaches that can be rented as little as €250 a month!
Ελα ρε Έλληνας εισαι? Nice report. We are supposed to come to Greece on May 2and from Portugal. Seems not looking to good for us now.
Όχι, δεν ειμαι ´Ελληνας αλλα ξερω λιγα ελληνικα!
That is too bad! I did hear from a hotel manager here today that they expect the closure of the hotels to last beyond the current April 30 date. You have family here? Right now, there are relatively few cases in the country, in comparison to others.
Μπράβο ρε λεβέντη Charlie. Yes I wanted to see my uncle and take my wife to some islands. This is crazy but what can we do. Stay safe file
Γεια σου Charlie, πως πάει, μπορώ να σε ρωτήσω κάτι; I have a question regarding the recent “lockdown” imposed by the Civil Protection of Greece and maybe you have an answer. What is the procedure for visitors from other EU countries in order to get from the Airport to a certain location? Do they need a permit as well? If yes, how do they obtain it? I currently live in Athens and my wife is planning to visit me from Slovenia if her flight doesn’t get canceled. I would appreciate if you could share some useful information. Thanks
Γεια σου! Είμαι καλά, εσύ; Είναι κρύο σήμερα εδώ! Everyone coming back into Greece now has to fill out a form and go into 14 self-quarantine (as of last Friday). She will be spoken to at the airport when she arrives and will need to give her address, etc, for the quarantine. They will give her there whatever she would need for transiting home. Hope the flight stays on schedule!
If our president would do likewise it would cut down the increase of new cases drastically.
True, but imagine the pushback by state leaders for not getting to make that call themselves (even though they have had time). The PM had some pushback last week when he canceled church services because the Orthodox leaders had not gone far enough on their own with it.
I have a 10 day Greece vacation scheduled from approximately May 5 to May 15. Most of the hotels were booked at nonrefundable rates through Hotels.com and Booking.com with boutique mom and pop hotels in Athens Santorini and Mykonos. Do you think I should try and contact them and ask for them to cancel the reservation and refund the money or wait until the mandatory lockdown order has been extended?
Sorry, John! I would just wait for now. It puts travelers much more in the driver’s seat when the provider cancels.
Thanks for the updates. Stay safe!
Thanks!
Lockdown in Greece??
FlightAware shows non stop flights from Beijing still landing in Athens. There are flights from Frankfurt and Doha and many other locations landing in Athens.
Not the best way to curtail the Wuhan Virus.
They have a checkpoint set up at airports now and all passengers coming into Greece have to go into a strict 14 day quarantine. I know the PM wanted to stop air travel into Greece but the EU requested that they wait on that so it may still happen this week.
We’re happy to read your article charlie! Be careful and stay safe
Thanks, you too, Nikolas!
Are all of the islands on lockdown as well. We visited Ios and Santorini last September. We were told that Santorini has become very popular for tourists from China especially as a destination wedding sight. When we were there it appeared half the tourists on the island were from Asia.
Yes, everything on the mainland and islands.
Hi Charlie did you see my earlier post. How long is the lock down for? Is there any end date at this point. After our Portugal plans got gutted by flight cancellations, We are now coming to Athens on 30 April. We are going straight to the village by rental car. Any info would be nice. Euxaristo
Sorry – I had stepped away from the computer for a while yesterday. 🙂
It is currently scheduled to run through April 6 but hotels are shut until April 30. Churches have also been advised that they may be closed for Easter (April 19). I think you should end up being ok with an April 30 arrival. Stay safe!
Yeia sou Charlie, can you help me verify something? I just saw the updated travel restrictions from Greece on the IATA website. It says that on 15 May Greece will open up to flights and visitors from non EU countries. In reading the list of info it does state 14 day quarantine. I can’t find anything to verify this. They are opening the country up for Greek/EU citizens on 27 April. So could you maybe find out if it is open for us do we still have to quarantine after 15 May. Thanks so much. Euxaristo para poly
I sent an e-mail for follow up.