Greece suspends Covid-Pass and EU digital certificate from May 1

The Hellenic Committee of Epidemiology on Thursday decided to recommend the suspension of the Covid-Pass and the European Covid Digital Certificate (EUDCC) from May 1, 2022.

Suspense affects vaccinated and unvaccinated citizens of the country, as well as tourists arriving in Greece.

Details will be specified in the forthcoming joint ministerial decision. But it is roughly visible that vaccinated and unvaccinated citizens and tourists will have access to the premises of restaurants, cafes, bars and other entertainment establishments, as well as retail stores without the need to present a certificate of vaccination or recovery, or a negative rapid test.

According to the media, members of the committee unanimously recommended:

• Suspension of the Covid-Pass (vaccination or recovery certificate) from May 1 and return of the filling of event venues to 100%.
• Suspension of the European digital certificate Covid EUDCC at the entrances to the country.
• 1 rapid test per week (instead of two until now) for unvaccinated workers, except in hospitals and nursing homes where rapid tests remain 2x per week for unvaccinated workers.
• 1 rapid test (instead of two so far) for unvaccinated teachers. Further clarifications are expected from the Ministry of Education.

Ministry of Health announcedthat the commission’s proposal has been accepted by the government, and the details will be specified in the forthcoming joint ministerial decision, which will be published in the official gazette by 1 May. Accordingly, there will also be a flight directive from the Hellenic Civil Aviation Authority.

Note that the mandatory indoor wearing of masks remains in place in May, and what Health Minister Thanos Pleuris said earlier on Thursday – the plan to lift the measure from June 1 will largely depend on the course of the pandemic. Details here. The country’s epidemiologists on Thursday recommended wearing a mask also in the open air, where there are crowds of people.

Greece has seen a significant drop in daily infections over the past four weeks, but is averaging more than 7,000 cases daily. Health experts want to see the impact of the Easter holidays before they decide to remove the mask indoors.

Even if the measure is lifted, the mask will most likely remain mandatory in public transport and medical facilities for at least the coming months.

PS I want to draw attention to the tricky wording – not a cancellation, but a suspension Covid pass. What does the resumption of measures mean in the future. In general, wait and see.

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