Lockdown restrictions stand for Clean Monday holiday
Restrictions on public movement will apply as usual on Clean Monday, a national holiday marking the start of Lent ahead of Greek Orthodox Easter on May 2, the government has said, appealing to the public to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus by avoiding crowds in public and gatherings at home.
Most importantly, citizens are not allowed to leave their area of residence unless they can prove they are traveling for work or some other legitimate purpose.
Leaving home for exercise – or for flying a kite as is the Clean Monday custom – is only permitted on foot or on bicycle, sending an SMS with the code number 6 to the 13033 hotline.
Shopping for food (supermarkets are closed, but bakeries, fishmongers’, mini-markets and farmers’ markets are not) is permitted with the code number 2 and for visiting a bank ATM with the code number 3, though all such activities must take place within the municipal unit of residence or a 2-kilometer radius from home.
Leaving home to help someone in need, using SMS 4, is permitted but will be scrutinized closely in event of a police check.
The curfew, meanwhile, starts at 9 p.m. as on every other weekday, and runs until 5 a.m. on Tuesday morning.
