An 18-year old Italian tourist on the Greek island of Mykonos ended up being homeless for hours after he tested positive for COVID-19.
The unfortunate young man, who went to Mykonos to enjoy a carefree summer vacation, was left abandoned at the local Health Center, as every single room on the island’s designated quarantine hotels were operating in absolute full capacity, according to what a man who tried to help him told local news website Mykonos Live TV.
The Italian tourist had come to Greece with a group of friends, however, after testing positive for the novel coronavirus, he could not return to their hotel, as no one wanted him to spread the virus to his friends.
Mykonos authorities unable to offer a solution
The first to whom the Italian visitor had to turn to were the officials at the Health Center of the island.
According to the man who spoke to the Mykonos Live website, when asked whether he could stay there for the days he had to self-isolate, the Health Center turned the young Italian down, claiming that only people with severe symptoms are allowed to be hospitalized there.
This left the young tourist with no option but to start asking other hotels and hostels on the island to see whether he could stay there for the rest of his quarantine period.
A local resident, who saw the unfortunate visitor being desperate at the entrance of the Health Center, stepped up and tried to help.
”He can’t find a room to stay, he’s only 18, and he’s crying outside of the Health Center, where they say we’re not responsible to take him in,” the resident told the Mykonos Live TV website.
”We then called the Civil Protection, we even reached the Minister, who said that all designated COVID hotels on Mykonos are full, so we cannot help him,” he went on.
No hotel wanted to host the Italian tourist
Following this devastating disregard and apathy that they encountered when talking to the official authorities, the man who tried to help the desperate 18-year old, began calling every hotel on the island.
Unfortunately, his luck wasn’t any better.
All hotels refused to welcome the young man, using the pretext of not having a spare room to share with him.
According to official guidance in Greece, hotels are able to host people who have tested positive, provided that the patients disclose fully their condition.
However, as it is understood, no business owner wanted to risk having a positive case inside their premises, particularly at a time when Mykonos is struggling to cope with the sudden surge of coronavirus cases.
In a desperate last attempt, the local who was doing his best to find a solution to this unbelievable problem decided to talk to local journalists, hoping that this negative publicity would become a wake-up call for the authorities.
Eventually, and after hours of unnecessary vacillating, the 18-year old tourist managed to go to a hotel that was designated for positive covid cases.
Health authorities on Mykonos have a different story to tell
It has to be noted, that following the publicity that this story took, the health authorities of the island present a much different picture to the matter.
According to the Proto Thema news website, the National Emergency Center (EKAB) claims that the 18-year old was the one who did not want to be transferred to a quarantined hotel, as he claimed he should have stayed in the Health Center.
The EKAB service noted that they spent hours trying to persuade the young man to go and spend his self-isolation in one of the designated quarantine hotels, with the final solution being given by his parents!
According to their side of the story, the parents of the young man called him and managed to persuade him to obey the calls of the local authorities to go to a quarantined hotel, something that he eventually did.
Related: Emergency Coronavirus Restrictions Imposed on Mykonos
See all the latest news from Greece and the world at Greekreporter.com. Contact our newsroom to report an update or send your story, photos and videos. Follow GR on Google News and subscribe here to our daily email!
