Italy, Greece decides to lift COVID-19 restrictions on Sunday

Italy and Greece have made a decision to lift some of the COVID-19 restrictions on Sunday, in a plan that the situation is almost turning back to normalcy before Europe’s peak summer tourist season.

As per the announcement made by the Greece’s civil aviation authority about that they are lifting all COVID-19 restrictions for international and domestic flights except for the wearing of the facial masks during the flights and at airports. Earlier, air travellers were directed to show proof of vaccination, a negative test or a recent recovery from the disease.

Under a rule passed by Italy’s health ministry, the country did away with the health pass needed to enter restaurants, cinemas, gyms, as well as other venues. The green pass, which shows proof of vaccination, recovery from the virus or a fresh negative test, is still mandatory to access hospitals and nursing homes.

Some indoor mask mandates also ended, including inside supermarkets, workplaces and stores. Masks are still required on public transport, cinemas, and all health care and elder care facilities.

Meanwhile, public health officials are still asking people to recommend masks for all indoor activities, and private companies can still require them.

As of Sunday, visitors to Italy also no longer have to fill out the EU passenger locator form, a complicated and user-unfriendly online form needed at airport check-in.

Even with the restrictions increasingly going by the wayside, public health officials urged and stressed that the pandemic was still not over. Italy is still recording 699 cases per 100,000 persons and is reporting over 100 death per day, with a total confirmed death toll at 163,500. But hospital capacity remains stable and under the critical threshold.