The main points of the plan for the safe management of the pandemic, taking into account the tourist season, were presented during an online meeting with the activists of the youth organization of the New Democracy Party, the Minister of Tourism of Greece Haris Theocharis.
According to the tourism minister, the measures the government is considering include medical passports for arriving tourists, hotel agreements with doctors to expedite diagnostic procedures, and a range of other medical services.
So, all tourists who will accept Greece after the opening of the borders will have to take a coronavirus test 72 hours before the start of the flight at the departure point. However, the Greeks themselves, flying to other countries with a tourist purpose, are also required to pass an infection test. Accordingly, Greek tourists, on the basis of, obviously, interstate agreements who want to travel abroad, had to go through a check 72 hours before the trip.
At the same time, officials do not want airlines to reduce the number of seats on planes. In their opinion, this measure will not help the fight against the pandemic, but will only undermine the financial condition of the carriers. For flights of a certain duration (up to four hours, according to the minister), it is also recommended not to serve food to passengers, but only packaged snacks.
Most hotels will have to skip the buffet. An exception can be made only by small hotels with minimal occupancy.
In addition, the sun loungers on the beaches will be located at a fairly large distance, and after each use they are planned to be treated with disinfectants.
Tourist doctor and quarantine hotels
In case of suspicious symptoms: all hotels will be required to conclude an agreement with a doctor, special training for working with patients who have identified a coronavirus that will either assess the presence of symptoms resembling the virus by physical presence or distance and ask for an appropriate analysis. Here it is necessary that the result is available within 6 hours, and that the patient is transferred to “quarantine hotels”.
Therefore, in each tourist destination of the country, the Ministry of Tourism will rent tourist accommodation that will function as a “quarantine hotel” where tourists who are found to be carriers of the coronavirus will be transported, ensuring the anonymity of the hotel’s brand name. Finally, tourists will leave Greece uncontrolled to avoid a situation where a tourist is forced to stay in Greece for quarantine.
It should be noted that in parallel with the program voiced by Haris Theoharis, the Greek City Times portal published a message by Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. According to him, the republic proposed the creation of the so-called safe corridor, which will allow traveling between countries that have successfully coped with the coronavirus pandemic. These currently include Austria, Denmark, Norway, Israel, Singapore, the Czech Republic and Australia. When Russia will be added to them – it is not known. But judging by the latest statements by officials, there is an understanding that this will not happen until July.