Greece’s Unvaccinated Tourism Workers in Six Areas Must Test for Covid-19 Twice a Week

Greek Civil Protection Deputy Minister Nikos Hardalias.

Unvaccinated workers in tourism, coastal shipping (ferries) and the food & beverage sector in areas where coronavirus (Covid-19) cases have recently increased – due to the fast spread of the Delta variant – will have to test for the virus twice a week, the Greek authorities announced on Thursday.

Speaking during a Covid-19 media briefing, Greek Civil Protection Deputy Minister Nikos Hardalias said that the rule will be in force from Saturday, July 17, for those working in the municipalities of Heraklion and Rethymno on Crete and on the islands of Mykonos, Ios, Paros and Santorini.

According to Hardalias, the workers will have to take two coronavirus tests a week – the first being a self-test and the second a rapid antigen test. All workers must register their Covid-19 test results on the Ergani (national employment monitoring system) online platform that can be accessed through the self-testing.gov.gr website by using their AMKA (social security) number.

Hardalias stressed that in just one week the active Covid-19 cases on Mykonos quadrupled, while in Heraklion and Rethymno they increased by two and three times. Cases have spiked fast also on Santorini, Paros and Ios, the deputy minister said.

The six areas are now in ‘orange’ status on Greece’s color-coded risk-assessment map which can be found here in English.

“The epidemiological burden is clear in these six areas and we are one step before taking concrete measures,” he said.

According to reports, the possibility of local lockdowns, as a worst case scenario, has been discussed by Greece’s Covid-19 health committee.

Greek health authorities on Thursday announced 2,794 new coronavirus cases and 6 deaths. The number of intubated patients is 132.

Since the start of the pandemic, the total number of cases in the country has reached 450,512. The Covid-19 death toll in Greece is 12,819.