Greece imposes nationwide night curfew

Greece's Deputy Minister of Civil Protection and Crisis Management, Nikos Hardalias announced a nationwide night curfew from 9pm-5am, which will start from Friday the 13th of November.

It comes as the number of fatalities and those intubated in hospitals continues to rise, despite the second nationwide lockdown last week.

"By limiting unnecessary movement, we are limiting the spread of the virus,” Hardalias said.

Exceptions: people who need to leave the house for work, health reasons or a short walk with a pet. They will have to send an SMS to 13033, or have a document from their employer.

Latest covid-19 numbers in Greece

Greece recorded 2,752 new cases of COVID-19 in the latest 24-hour reporting period.

This raises the total number of cases to 63,321.

4,556 are considered to be related to travel from abroad and 17,036 are related to an already known case.

Two hundred and ninety-seven individuals are in ICU. Their median age is 65 years, and 82 of them are women. 82.8% have an underlying condition or are aged 70 years and above.

A total of 347 patients have been discharged from ICUs since the start of the pandemic in Greece.

The country’s pandemic death toll stands at 909. The median age of all was 79 years and 96.7% of the deceased had an underlying condition and/or age of 70 years or more.

SMS 13033 for movement during lockdown

All individuals residing in Greece will be required to send an SMS text message to 13033 in order to obtain permission to leave their homes during the lockdown.

The SMS to 13033 should be formatted as follows: X (one of the digits 1-6 corresponding to the activities below), name, surname and address.

The six reasons (you must SMS) are:

1. Visit to a pharmacy or visit to a doctor if necessary
2. Visit to a supermarket or stores for essential supplies
3. Visit to a bank if e-banking transactions are not possible
4. Visit to people needing assistance or escorting children to and from school
5. Attending a funeral, as per the conditions provided by the law, or visiting children in case of divorced parents
6. Physical exercise outdoors or up to two persons taking their pet for a walk while always observing a 1.5-metre distance.

Alternatively, individuals unable to send SMSs, can fill out the form by hand. There are two types of documents: Document A, which is filled out once by the person going to work, with name, home address, work address, and shift schedule. This will be provided by employers. Document B is for trips not related to work and must be filled out every time a citizen wishes to leave his or her house, instead of an SMS. It must contain name, home address, destination and reason for circulation.

Anyone leaving the house will have to carry a valid identification card or document with them.