2LT International News

ATHENS, Greece: As Greece struggles to contain an increase in Covid cases due to the spreading of the Delta variant, the country’s tourism minister has said that Covid is not being brought into the country by newly returning tourists.

“The opening of tourism was done very carefully. In the first 10 days of July just 74 out of 105,609 samples taken at the country’s entry points were positive, just 0.07%,” Haris Theoharis, Minister of Tourism, said on Tuesday.

“Our country does not have a problem with the opening of its borders,” he said. “The rise in infections is not related to tourism.”

On Tuesday, Greece registered 3,109 new COVID-19 cases, a level last seen in April. Since February 2020, Greece has had 444,783 cases of COVID-19, with 12,806 deaths.

Twenty percent of the Greek economy is reliant on tourism. Beginning with the tourism season in May, the government expressed the hope of bringing in about half of the annual tourism revenues this year.
In 2019, more than 30 million people visited Greece.

Some 41 percent of Greeks are fully vaccinated. To enter the country, foreigners must show proof of having been vaccinated or present a negative Covid test.

Also, customers at indoor restaurants, bars and cafes will be required to show proof of having been vaccinated.

“We can not allow deniers of science to lead our country into adventures,” Theoharis said regarding those people who refuse to be vaccinated.