Greece resumed regular ferries to its islands on Monday and reopened cafes and restaurants, as the country accelerated its efforts to rescue the tourism season.
Travel to the islands has generally been prohibited since a quarantine was imposed in late March to stem the spread of the coronavirus. Only merchandise providers and permanent residents had access.
However, the low rate of COVID-19 infections in the country led the government to start the summer season three weeks before the scheduled date, June 15, while other Mediterranean countries, such as Italy, Spain and Turkey, were experiencing outbreaks. more aggressive virus.
At the Bairaktaris restaurant in central Monastiraki Square in Athens, waiters and employees in purple masks, and some with plastic face shields, cut meat on the rotisserie grill, placed flowers on spaced tables, and waited for customers, who are still They were cautious on Monday.
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Spiros Bairaktaris, the enthusiastic owner, continues a family business that has been open for 140 years, and on the walls you can see photos of him with famous clients. He was optimistic about the season despite the slow start.
“This has never happened before,” he told AP. “Normally we would seat 100 people in the interior area, now there will be only 30 … There will be no dance or bouzouki music until the doctors give us the go-ahead,” he added.
“But I think people will come from all over Europe because we have a low death toll, thank God,” he added.
COVID-19 cases
Greece has registered almost 2,900 infections and 171 deaths from the virus. Italy has documented 33,000 coronavirus deaths, Spain nearly 29,000, and Turkey 4,340, according to a count by Johns Hopkins University.
Social distancing measures and passenger limits were introduced in ferries and restaurants to combat new infections.
The state health service on the islands was also reinforced, with intensive care units enabled on five islands: Lesbos, Samos, Rhodes, Zante and Corfu, which join the ICU that the island of Crete already had.
Tourism is a crucial piece of the Greek economy, contributing directly to more than 10% of GDP. More than 34 million people traveled to Greece last year and spent 18.2 billion euros ($ 19.5 billion) according to government data.
It’s usually hard to find a spot at the Kayak Cafe, which offers comfortable seating and views of the Acropolis. But Monday noon it was still almost empty.
“80% of our business comes from tourism, and people in Greece are cautious, they fear losing their jobs,” said owner Liza Meneretzi. “I have been running this café for 30 years and have never seen anything like this. But I’ve been optimistic since I was born, so we’ll see how things go. “
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Petros Giannakouris and Iliana Mier contributed to this report.
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