Retail to tentatively open on Monday

Retail trade will reopen on Monday with shoppers being allowed to order products remotely and collect them from outside stores (click-away) or book an appointment to go to a shop (click-in-shop).

What’s more, as part of the effort to support the economy on the one hand and to offer some respite to the public on the other, movements between municipalities will be allowed, albeit only on weekends.

More specifically, as announced on Wednesday by Citizens’ Protection Minister Nikos Hardialias and Health Minister Vassilis Kikilias, as of Monday, April 5, shops (but not shopping malls) will reopen with the method of click-away and click-in-shop. Consumers will be able to go to the stores by sending a special SMS code and will have a time limit of three hours to make their purchases.

The presence of one customer per 25 square meters will be allowed in each store, with a maximum of 20 customers.

In addition, as of Saturday, travel between municipalities by vehicle will be allowed, using code 6 and only for outdoor exercise of up to three people or a family. Hardalias warned, however, that if overcrowding is observed, people will no longer be allowed to travel from one municipality to another.

A possible reopening of schools will be evaluated next week with the prospect of opening some classrooms, senior year in particular, as of April 12 with the use of extensive tests. The issue of shopping malls will also be re-evaluated next week. 

According to Hardalias, the goal of this new mix of measures is to give citizens a breather that will lead to the better implementation of measures.

The announcements were preceded by a long teleconference of the Committee of Experts that examined the possibilities of liberalizing certain activities.

Meanwhile on Wednesday, the epidemiological burden remained high as 3,616 coronavirus cases were confirmed with the positivity index consistently above 6%, and the transmissibility index (Rt) across the country being very close to 1 (0.98).

In Attica, 1,704 new cases were identified with the viral load remaining at very high levels in western Attica and the western suburbs of Athens. The situation in Thessaloniki was described as worrisome, with 499 new cases recorded. Achaia saw 121 new cases and Kozani 84.

The death toll came to 76. Intubated patients reached 739, while there were 479 hospital admissions.