The Greek government said on Wednesday that a batch of new restrictions in entertainment, work and sports announced earlier this week to contain the spread of COVID-19, will take effect at 6 am on Thursday instead of January 3.
Following a meeting on the pandemic chaired by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Health Minister Thanos Plevris said entertainment and food service venues will close at midnight, have no standing customers or music and only allow a maximum of six per table.
High-protection KN95 or FFP2 masks, or alternatively a double layer of other masks, will be mandatory in supermarkets and public transport, as well as by employees in the food service sector.
In public and private sector workplaces, half of staff will have to work from home and staggered shifts will be reintroduced.
In sports stadiums, admissions will be limited to 10% of the venue’s capacity, with a cap of 1,000 spectators and visits to retirement homes will be limited to those who have performed a PCR test within the previous 48 hours.
These measures come as new coronavirus cases in Greece smashed a third record in as many days on Wednesday, reaching the unprecedented number of 28,828.
Fatalities also rose on Wednesday to 72 – from 60 the day before – taking the COVID death toll to 20,636.
Source: Ekathimerini.
