Greece Covid-19 Risk Zones Based on Access to Health Units and Tests, Says Tourism Ministry

Deputy Tourism Minister Manos Konsolas.

With regard to the recently announced coronavirus (Covid-19) action plan with precautionary measures on the islands and mainland announced by the Greek government, Deputy Tourism Minister Manos Konsolas underlined that it was aimed at ensuring the well-being and safety of locals, visitors and tourism professionals.

In response to opposition reactions to the plan, which divides the country into three risk zones based on ease of access to health facilities and capacity for Covid-19 testing, Konsolas said the tourism ministry “did not divide the islands into categories based on possibility of danger” but taking into consideration the ease with which one can have access to health facilities and the capacity of dealing with possible Covid-19 incidents.

“The top priority is [securing] the sense of safety and health protection of citizens, visitors and tourism employees. For this reason, health protocols have been created for all tourism businesses, which must be strictly adhered to,” Konsolas said.

“The tourism ministry’s role in this effort is to educate and inform businesses about health protocols, which will begin immediately and be completed by June 20, along with relevant inspections,” he added.

The plan, jointly drawn up by the health and tourism ministries, was published in Greek daily Eleftheros Typos this week.