COVID-19 pandemic in Greece

Since the opening of the Greek borders to tourists at the end of June 2020, the daily number of confirmed cases announced has included those detected following tests at the country's entry points.

Health and state authorities issued precautionary guidelines and recommendations, while measures up to early March were taken locally and included the closure of schools and the suspension of cultural events in the affected areas (particularly Ilia, Achaea and Zakynthos).

From that date, movement outside the house was permitted only for seven categories of reasons: i) moving to or from one's workplace during work hours, ii) going to the pharmacy or visiting a doctor iii) going to a food store iv) going to the bank for services not possible online, v) assisting a person in need of help vi) going to a major ritual (funeral, marriage, baptism) or movement, for divorced parents, which is essential for contact with their children, and vii) moving outdoors for exercising or taking one's pet out, individually or in pairs.

On 12 January 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed that a novel coronavirus was the cause of a respiratory illness in a cluster of people in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China, which was reported to the WHO on 31 December 2019.

Up to 65% of Greek hotels, including many investment grade properties and commercial developments on Crete, Corfu and Rhodes, are expected to face bankruptcy under current conditions.

Greece's successful handling of the pandemic with fewer than 200 deaths and only 3,826 total reported cases has been one of the factors driving the demand for property purchases from other European nations.

[486] Starting on 16 March, the Hellenic Ministry of Health introduced a daily afternoon live televised briefing with updates on the progression of the pandemic in the country and the government's emergency measures, hosted by Dr. Sotiris Tsiodras, the health ministry spokesman on the COVID-19 pandemic, and Deputy Minister for Civil Protection and Crisis Management Nikos Hardalias, with occasional appearances of other government officials as well.

For thirty days, the movement of camp residents would be restricted to small groups between 7 am and 7 pm, which could only include one person per family and would be controlled by police on public transport.

[493] On the same day, Deputy Minister of Civil Protection and Crisis Management Nikos Hardalias announced a ban on public gatherings of 10 or more people and the imposition of a €1,000 fine on violators.

Movement was permitted only for a prescribed set of reasons that include moving to or from the workplace during normal business hours, shopping for food or medicine, visiting a doctor or assisting a person in need of help, exercising individually or in pairs or walking a pet, attending a ceremony (wedding, baptism, funeral etc.

The options included filling in a special form that could be downloaded from the government website forma.gov.gr, sending a free SMS to the number 13033, or explaining their reason in a signed handwritten declaration.

[507] From 8 April, the Hellenic Police installed permanent roadblocks and intensified checks of vehicles in all national roads and highways across the country, as well of travellers at the airports, ports, railway and bus stations.

Anyone travelling by car without a valid reason to a destination other than his permanent residence was charged with a fine of 300 euros, is obliged to return to his place of origin and the vehicle registration plates are seized for 60 days.

[522] On 16 March Greece closed its borders with Albania and North Macedonia, deciding to suspend all road, sea and air links with these countries, while only permitting the transport of goods and the entry of Greek nationals and residents.

[528] On 15 April, the Hellenic Civil Aviation Authority issued NOTAMs covering until 15 May, that ban commercial flights to and from Italy, Spain, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Germany.

Moreover, the temporary entry ban to all non-EU citizens was extended until 1 June and all international flights are allowed to land and depart only at Athens Eleftherios Venizelos Airport until that date.

[533] From 17 August, airline passengers arriving in Greece from Belgium, Czechia, Spain, the Netherlands or Sweden need to provide evidence of a negative COVID-19 test result from the past 72 hours.

The measures include the suspension, for four months, of tax and social security obligations of corporations that were ordered to close by the state decree, with the sole condition that they do not dismiss any workers.

The measures also include an €800 stipend as well as a four-month suspension of payment of March taxes on employees of businesses the activity of which was suspended and on freelance professionals who work in sectors affected by the pandemic.

[496][538][539] On 19 March, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, in a nationally televised address, announced the revision of the State Budget to allocate more than €10 billion in support of the economy.

[540][541] According to the International Monetary Fund, as of June 2020 the package of measures in support of the economy, financed from national and EU resources, totals about 14% of Greece's GDP (€24 billion) including loan guarantees.

[548] From 17 to 24 August all bars, restaurants, clubs and entertainment venues in Attica, Crete, Eastern Macedonia and Thrace, Thessaloniki, Halkidiki, Larissa, Corfu, Mykonos, Paros and Antiparos, Poros, Santorini, Volos, Katerini, Rhodes, Zakynthos and Kos were subject to nighttime curfew from midnight to 07hrs.

[513] A second nationwide lockdown began on 7 November, lasting until December, along similar lines to that in March: only supermarkets, pharmacies and food takeaway business were allowed to remain open.

[564] In the existing camps, doctors, NGOs and refugees considered that measures against the spread of the coronavirus were lacking as people lived in overcrowded spaces with little access to proper health services.

On 7 May, Health Minister Vasilis Kikilias announced that donations worth about €90 million came from organisations, companies and individuals, as well as other states such as the United Arab Emirates and China.

[587][588] On 18 May all archaeological sites, zoos, botanical gardens as well as all aesthetic and dietary institutes, discount and outlet villages and shopping malls re-opened, earlier than the previously established 1 June date.

[610] On 1 April, the Standing Synod of the Church of Greece issued a statement that urged the faithful to abide by the government's sanitary regulations and to refrain from attending services in churches; it also re-affirmed its stance on the Holy Communion set out in the statement of 9 March 2020 and expressed hope that solemn public celebration of Easter (Pascha), which would properly be on 19 April, could be performed on the night of 26 May, the eve of the Leave-Taking (Apodosis) of Pascha.

Their statement did not oppose more specific bans and continued "The State must protect public health in the face of a pandemic, without exceeding the limits of the rule of law".

During the first phase of the epidemic, the government allocated a total of 20 million euros for a state advertising campaign on TV channels, newspapers and news websites to promote the quarantine that had been imposed.

[624][625][626] On 30 November 2020, the Vice President of the European Commission Věra Jourová stated that same phenomena, regarding the funding of government-friendly media, are also observed in Hungary, Slovenia and Poland.