Greece imposes stricter lockdown on the island of Kalymnos

Greece’s Civil Protection  on Wednesday announced that the island of Kalymnos will go into a strict lockdown for ten days.

The stricter measures will be in place from Thursday, December 31 until 6am on Saturday, January 9, 2021.

The stricter lockdown is imposed “for urgent reasons to address a serious public health risk and in particular to limit the spread of Covid-19,” the statement said.

New measures for Kalymnos

• Curfew from 6pm-5am. Employees are excluded from the curfew, providing that they have a signed employer certificate with them.
• Prohibition of movement outside the island of Kalymnos, except for health reasons.
• The entire retail sector will remain closed, including open-air markets (laikes).
• Churches and all worship places will be shut and all services.

The Region of North Aegean and the municipality of Kalymnos will see to it that residents have all food and necessary supplies they need, such as medicine, and other emergency needs.

Greek Health Minister Vassilis Kikilias raised concerns regarding the rising number of covid cases during the media briefing on Wednesday.

He also called on citizens to be especially careful when attending gatherings for the New Year, as statistics show that cases in communities rise especially after holidays the and the virus continues to spread.

“In 15 days we will see if we had a spread during Christmas,” Kikilias said.

There are also other areas in Greece that are in a stricter lockdown including municipalities in West Attica and areas in Northern Greece.

Since the start of the pandemic, the number of confirmed coronavirus infections is 137,918, with 4,788 deaths.

Greece still in lockdown for New Year’s festivities

Earlier this week, Greece’s government spokesman Stelios Petsas said that lockdown measures will not be amended over New Year’s Eve and urged the public to abide by Covid-19 safety measures.

NYE Covid-19 Rules in Greece – Here’s what you need to know:

• No more than nine people (from two households) should gather in the same house, in order to avoid overcrowding.
• The nationwide night curfew from 10pm-5am will continue to apply until. There will be no exception on New Year’s. 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.
• Police will carry out strict and constant checks throughout the country. Those caught violating curfew will face strict fines.
• Churches will be open to the faithful on New Year and Epiphany on January 6, with limits on the number of people allowed inside. There will be a limit of 25 people allowed in churches and up to 50 people in metropolitan cathedrals.
• For movement on New Year, citizens must send an SMS for option 6 to the five-digit mobile phone service 13033.
• Travel between prefectures (domestic travel) in Greece remains prohibited. It is is allowed only for returning to permanent residence, family reunification, business reasons and health reasons.