Greece Imposes New Coronavirus Restrictions on Zakynthos, Chania

New, much stricter emergency measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus will be imposed on the popular Greek island of Zakynthos and the city of Chania on Crete, it was announced on Thursday afternoon.

According to a statement issued by the General Secretariat for Civil Protection of Greece, a nighttime curfew will be in place from Friday, August 6 at 6:00 AM local time until Friday, August 13.

Zakynthos, Chania under strict coronavirus restrictions

According to the announcement, all people on the island of Zakynthos as well as in the city of Chania on Crete, including residents and visitors, will be barred from being able to leave their houses or rooms beginning at 1:00 PM until 6:00 AM the following morning.

The only exceptions to this nighttime curfew will be for those who wish to go to and return from work or in case of a medical emergency.

Additionally, music will be banned in every public venue on Zante and in Chania, starting on Friday, at 6:00 AM local time.

It is also noted that organized private events, such as parties with more than 20 people in private, non-professional venues are also banned, with fines being exceptionally stiff.

This particular ban applies to the entirety of Greece — not just these two specific regions.

”The administrative fine in case of violation amounts from 50,000 to 200,000 euros,” the Civil Protection of Greece reminded.

The exact same type of restrictions had been imposed earlier this summer on the popular island destination of Mykonos.

Many Greeks still refuse to get their vaccines

Greece’s slowing vaccination rate has been put under the microscope once more as the US reached President Joe Biden’s goal of vaccinating 70 percent of the population against the coronavirus on Monday.

A similar milestone has also been reached by the EU, with more than 70 percent of the total population of the European Union having received at least one dose of the vaccine.

There are multiple factors experts point to which may explain why vaccination has slowed down in Greece in recent weeks; however, scientists warn that inoculation is now more important than ever as the Delta variant of the coronavirus threatens a fourth wave.

Greece has been experiencing a decline in its vaccination rate over the summer months, and recent statistics show that the rate has dipped even lower over the past week.

Fortunately, the state of vaccinations in Greece is not entirely bleak; more than 5,705,000 citizens have received at least one dose of the vaccine (54.3% of the general population and 63.7% of adults), and at least 5,170,000 are considered fully vaccinated (49% of the general population and 58% of adults).

Although these numbers are not particularly low, it must be noted that the rate of new vaccinations continues to decline across the country and government officials have expressed concern about the dwindling prospect of herd immunity.