Starting on Saturday, only permanent residents can travel to and from the Greek islands after many Greeks, and people of other nationalities including Italian, have sought to flee coronavirus outbreaks by travelling to the islands.
This announcement was made by Greek Minister of Maritime and Island Policy, Yiannis Plakiotaki.
Authorities fear that this puts places at risk of contagion where there are not enough healthcare facilities to deal with a potential emergency.
Local authorities of several Greek islands had complained in recent days about the arrival by the boatload of European travellers who own second homes on the islands, some of these being very small islands.
On Thursday, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis had noted that "the 'virus does not have borders. The smaller the island where it is believed they will be safe, the more difficult, if not impossible, it will be to treat the people who get sick.''
