New Covid-Free Measures
16 July 2021 - 6:25am
The new rules above will commence from Friday 16 July until Tuesday 31 August 2021.
From Friday 16th July 2021, new rules for the hospitality and entertainment sectors, including restaurants, cafes, bars and clubs, will start to apply throughout all of Greece. Government officials have warned that inspections will be frequent and strict in order to ensure compliance with the new measures. Violation of the new rules carries stiff fines and penalties that escalate for repeat offenders and according to the size of venue. Fines for first offenders will range from 2,000 euros for premises under 200 Sqm and a week-long closure of the business, to a fine of 5,000 euros and a week-long closure for larger premises. These measures come as Greece's coronavirus cases have rocketed recently, particularly with younger people, with half the cases being linked to the latest Delta variant.
- Only seated customers will be permitted in places of entertainment, indoors and outdoors, with no dancing or standing at the bar.
- Indoor spaces like restaurants, cinemas and theatres, can only operate as Covid-Free venues that admit only Covid-immunised customers, either through vaccination or illness and operate at 85% capacity.
- For indoor places of entertainment, they are only permitted to operate only as Covid-Free venues with up to 85% of usable surface area while also observing the distancing and protection rules that apply for the restaurant sector.
- Owners of outdoor places of entertainment can choose to operate them as Covid-Free areas.
- Minors can only enter Covid-Free venues after taking a negative self-test that is attested by a parent.
Employers, in both the public and private sector, will have the right to ask to be informed whether their employees have been vaccinated or not. As part of the new measures, businesses can display one or more of the following signs that have been established, indicating whether a space is either Covid Free, Mixed (for outdoor areas) or whether their staff are all fully vaccinated.
The new rules above will commence from Friday 16 July until Tuesday 31 August 2021.The government announced on Saturday 17th July that there will be a nightly curfew, between 01:00 and 06:00 am, and around-the-clock ban on music in bars, cafes and restaurants impossed on the island of Mykonos due to the spike in Covid-19 cases. These Mykonos measures will last until 26 July, but could be extended if coronavirus cases do not drop significantly. Property owners on the internationally famous Greek island who rent their properties for parties exceeding twenty guests will face fines from 50,000 to 200,000 euros. Average age of new cases drops to 26 years.