Government close to scraping SMS system for leaving home, minister says

A system of applying for permission to leave home during the lockdown by sending a coded SMS to the 13033 hotline will soon be abolished, Digital Governance Minister Kyriakos Pierrakakis said on Tuesday.

“We are very close” to abolishing the system, the minister told broadcaster ANT1, noting that the public will already not be required to send an SMS when visiting restaurants as of May 3, when they reopen.

The final decisions on when the change will occur, will be announced by the government in the coming days, he added.