The plan is to re-open shops and retail by December 1 in Greece

There is a plan for gradually re-opening retail and restaurants from COVID-19 lockdowns beginning on December 1, said Deputy Minister of Development, Nikos Papathanasis.

Papathanasis said that initially retail and restaurants will open.

The situation, he said, has begun to stabilize and there will be a serious reduction in the spread of COVID-19 but in any case, the government has alternative plans.

He stressed that public health is not in the balance, he added.

Nobody said that we will open retail without strict measures, he clarified, noting:

"The scientific proposal of the epidemiological committee was for 3 weeks, we have been implementing it for 3 weeks. We listen to scientific knowledge."

As he noted, the plan for the opening is based on the experience of spring when the restart was initially with the opening of small retail shops, and then the following weeks more shops opened.

He stressed, however, that at this stage there can be a contraction in the restart with strict measures and assured that people will not be spilled on the streets.

Will the SMS be kept?

Asked if Greeks will go through a period with open stores and keeping SMS for travel, he said that this is something that will be seen in the last week.

He concluded that measures can be put in place regarding the density of people who can be located in shops, restaurants or shopping malls.

The factors that will judge the lockdown

The Minister of Health, Vassilis Kikilias, had a few days ago talked about the factors that will decide whether the lockdown will be lifted on November 30 or will need to be extended.

"The lifting of the measures will be done gradually, carefully and with the observance of the self-protection measures", he said.

As for when this gradual lockdown will begin, he said: "If by November 30 the cases have dropped below 500, then we can gradually open after that date. Always with self-protection measures."