Coronavirus checks to be conducted according to airport, not country
Travelers arriving in Greece after departing from airports in areas with an increased number of coronavirus cases – i.e. with a negative epidemic picture – will undergo mandatory tests and quarantine, Tourism Minister Haris Theocharis tells Kathimerini.
He explains that those airports are mentioned by name in a list (www.easa.europa.eu/SD-2020-01/Airports) that is constantly being updated by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and whose contents are published in travel advisories by the Greek Foreign Ministry.
Nevertheless, it is clear that in Greece, as well as in other countries, attention is focused on the airports of origin of incoming tourists, regardless of their nationality. The idea behind this is that the test has already taken place in the countries of the departure airports when those travelers crossed their borders: Therefore if a British national entered Austria, he should have undergone a test there and stayed in quarantine upon entering the country; therefore when he leaves Austria to come to Greece he is presumed to have already been checked.
Consequently any tourists setting off from airports included in the EASA black list to come to Greece will undergo a mandatory test and a one-day stay in a predetermined hotel. If their tests are negative, visitors from this category will have to remain in quarantine for seven days; however, if the test is positive for coronavirus, they will have to be quarantined for 14 days and their health will be constantly monitored.
By contrast, for visitors to Greece originating from airports which according to EASA are considered safe there will only be random checks.
The list of the countries that Greece has announced it will receive travelers from and whose airports are classified as secure are the following: Albania, Australia, Austria, Bulgaria, China, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Israel, Japan, Latvia, Lebanon, Lithuania, Malta, Montenegro, New Zealand, North Macedonia, Norway, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Korea and Switzerland.
