Travel to and from all of the Greek islands is now allowed as of Monday morning after the long coronavirus lockdown. Until now, citizens had so far only been able to travel to Crete, due to the travel bans instituted at the beginning of the outbreak.
Speaking to Athens-Macedonian News Agency (ANA-MPA) on Saturday, representatives of shipping companies said that bookings for Monday are “satisfactory” and also pointed out that many Greek citizens with vacation homes had been “waiting anxiously for this date.”
They did, however, express concern about adequate bookings in higher numbers continuing beyond Monday.
Ferries will operate at 50 percent of capacity, which becomes 55 percent in larger ships with cabins, while strict health safety protocols are in place for the protection of all passengers. These measures include the taking of passengers’ body temperature prior to boarding and the filling out of a special questionnaire by all passengers traveling on trips that are longer than 30 minutes.
Boarding will not be allowed to anyone who either displays COVID-19 symptoms or has been in contact with someone infected in the last 14 days — both as per the questionnaire filled out by the passenger him or herself. A distance of 1.5 meters must also be observed by all passengers in all areas and at all times.
A total of seven ferries are scheduled to depart from the port of Piraeus on Monday: two to the Cyclades, one to Chios-Mytilini, and four to Crete.
The port of Rafina will see one ferry depart to the Cyclades, while another three will depart from Lavrio port: two to Kea-Kythnos-Syros and one to Agios Efstratios-Limnos-Kavala.
(Source: AMNA)
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