Greece Has Officially Removed All COVID-19 Entry Rules – SchengenVisaInfo.com – SchengenVisaInfo.com
All travellers can now enter Greece restriction-free as the latter’s authorities have decided to drop all of their COVID-19 entry rules.
The decision of Greece to drop the entry rules was announced on April 29 by the Greek Ministry of Health, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.
The Ministry said that from May 1, all incoming travellers would no longer have to follow any rules. This means that all travellers, regardless of their country of origin, can enter Greece without having to provide COVID-19 proof – a vaccination, recovery, or test certificate – upon their arrival.
>> Greece’s Ministry of Health Confirms That Entry Restrictions Will Be Removed From May 1
Apart from dropping the entry rules, the Greek authorities have revealed that the country has also decided to lift the remaining of its domestic COVID-19 measures. Therefore, while in Greece, all travellers can access cafes, bars, restaurants, and other public places and venues without being required to hold one of the certificates mentioned above.
Greece has already dropped the requirement to fill in the Passenger Locator Form too. Previously, this requirement applied to all travellers who entered Greece. However, since March 15, travellers from all countries have been permitted entry even if they did not hold such a form.
It is believed that the Greek authorities decided to drop the entry rules in order to attract more travellers during the summer season. In addition, such a decision was also taken after considering the infection and vaccination rates.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Greece has reported 43,594 new Coronavirus infection cases in the last seven days.
As for the vaccination rates, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) reveals that the Greek authorities have administered a total of 20,742,496 COVID-19 vaccine doses as of April 29. The same further shows that of the total adult population, 82.2 per cent of them have completed primary vaccination, and another 64.9 per cent have received an additional vaccine dose.
However, the Greek Minister of Health, Thanos Plevris, has highlighted that Greece might reintroduce its entry restrictions again in September, once the summer season is over.
Similar to Greece, two other countries – Bulgaria and Lithuania – also dropped their COVID-19 entry rules today. These two now permit restriction-free entry to everyone.
Apart from Greece, Bulgaria, and Lithuania, 12 other EU/Schengen Area countries have also already lifted their entry rules. Czechia, Denmark, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Latvia, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, Sweden, and Switzerland allow restriction-free entry to all travellers.
