GREECE BANS NEW YEAR’S MUSIC AT VENUES AS OMICRON PUSHES CASES UP

Wed 29 December 2021:

Greece banned music in bars and restaurants on Wednesday in an effort to limit New Year’s Eve parties as part of new measures to combat the spread of the coronavirus.

“Omicron is now the dominant strain and the public health system is under pressure,” Health Minister Thanos Plevris said in a televised address.

From Thursday until January 16, “restaurants and entertainment venues will only be able to host tables of six people, and music will be banned,” he said.

“Bars and restaurants will close at midnight, but will be authorised to stay open until 2 am on December 31 — still without music,” he added.

Greece was forced to implement the measures sooner than expected after the country announced a new record of 21,657 daily Covid-19 infections on Tuesday.

As part of the new restrictions, which were originally scheduled to go into effect on January 3, 50 percent of employees in the public and private sectors would be allowed to work from home, up from 20 percent previously.

Catering employees and those wishing to go grocery shopping or use public transportation must wear either an FFP2 face mask or two medical masks, one on top of the other.

All public New Year’s Eve celebrations have been canceled, and the minister has urged Greeks to get tested for Covid before attending any necessary family gatherings.

Since the start of the pandemic, Greece has recorded 1,105,885 coronavirus cases and 20,557 deaths.

On December 14, the country reported a record 130 Covid deaths in 24 hours, but that daily figure has since dropped below 100.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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