Covid-19: Greece imposes a negative test on visitors even vaccinated

Tourists arriving at Heraklion Nikos-Kazatzakis International Airport, on the island of Crete, Greece, July 1, 2020. AP - Harry Nakos

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From this Sunday, December 19, a negative test for the detection of Covid-19 becomes mandatory for all travelers - vaccinated or not - entering Greece.

A new constraint which applies to all visitors over 5 years old and which is added to a battery of measures already in place, such as the start, this week, of a vaccination campaign for children aged 5 to 11 .

The objective is to contain the current wave which, for a month, has caused up to a hundred deaths per day and to limit, at the same time, the diffusion of the Omicron variant which is spreading in Europe.

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With our correspondent in Athens,

Joël Bronner

Sign of a certain feverishness in

the

face of

the evolution of the Covid-19 pandemic

, it took no less than four different announcements during the week to finalize the new rules imposed on the Greek borders. Ultimately, travelers will need to present a negative PCR test within 72 hours or an antigen test within 24 hours. This rule - which could be extended - becomes the norm at least " 

for the holidays

 " at the end of the year, specified Mina Gaga, the Greek Deputy Minister of Health.

In the streets of Athens, Theodora Vichou, who recently received her third vaccine injection, is spending her weekend shopping. She considers that this measure, which affects visitors, is also a way of limiting, for the holidays, the departures of Greeks abroad: “ 

I think the objective is to dissuade us from traveling from one country to another. 'other because we do not have a health system that allows us to treat many people in intensive care.

 "

Especially since at present, a little less than 65% of the population has been fully vaccinated, a figure slightly below the average for the countries of the European Union.

The Greek government is therefore increasing the coercive measures.

From mid-January, those over 60 will be obliged to be vaccinated, under penalty of having to pay a monthly fine.

► See also: Covid-19: Greece starts vaccination of children aged 5 to 11

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