It is expected that the main topic of today’s meeting of infectious diseases specialists will be the abolition of SMS for leaving the house and the lifting of restrictions on movement from one municipality to another.
With restaurants opening on Easter Monday, schools opening on May 10, and tourism from the 14th of that month, the measures that are still in place are likely to be a thing of the past. A corresponding announcement by the Greek government about a gradual return to normalcy is expected in the coming days.
As for inter-municipal travel, they still apply on a daily basis, with the exception of travel to hairdressers and retail stores. “Free” can only be driven on weekends, in the context of movement for exercise with code 6 and always using SMS to 13033.
Restaurants open, curfew until 23:00.
From May 3, after the opening of catering establishments (cafes, restaurants, taverns), the ban on movement at night will begin at 23:00. At the same time, stores will be able to remain open for home delivery (take away) even after this hour.
Panayiotis Stampoulidis, Secretary General for Trade and Consumer Protection, spoke this morning about the upcoming opening of the restaurants.
“Today or tomorrow a ministerial decision will be issued, which describes in detail how public catering establishments will operate. Initially, only enterprises with open areas will work, only with clients at the tables (depending on the area of the room). This will continue for some time, so that experts can assess how the epidemiological situation is developing with these indulgences.
The cafes will also operate outdoors. We want the catering industry to return to a normal pace of work. True, there are gaps in the activity codes, but today we will bring everything to a common denominator, ”explained Mr. Stampoulidis in a conversation with Mega.
SMS cancellation scripts
As mentioned above, the issue of the date of the cancellation of SMS will be clarified after the experts’ proposals to the government. There are two scenarios on the table at this point.
The first, which is the most realistic, is the cancellation of SMS on Easter Monday with the opening of restaurants, and the second on May 15 with the opening of tourism and interregional travel. In fact, this morning, Deputy Development Minister Nikos Papatanasis stressed to ANT1 that there will be no restrictions on travel to restaurants.
Digital Government Minister Kyriakos Pierrakakis supported this model yesterday. “We are on the verge of canceling SMS. We are just waiting for the relevant decisions of the civil protection authorities and the competent committee to find out the exact date. So at the moment we are not ready to talk about it specifically. But the date of the cancellation is already approaching, ”said Digital Government Minister Kyriakos Pierrakakis at ANT1.
For his part, Deputy Minister Akis Skertsos, contrary to the Prime Minister, told ERT that “SMS to 13033 will be canceled during the first two weeks of May”.
Development Minister Adonis Georgiadis, speaking with SKAI, estimated that although the time has not yet come to cancel SMS, the system can be canceled in the coming days if vaccination is accelerated. The minister noted that the government’s goal is not to use SMS when opening tourism.
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