Expert implores returning holidaymakers to exercise caution

An infectious disease expert and member of the committee advising the government on coronavirus policy on Thursday called on returning holidaymakers to test themselves and to protect the people around them from the possibility that they’re bringing the novel coronavirus back home with them.

“We entreat everyone coming back [from holiday] to take a self-test before they return and to be particularly careful for at least seven to 10 days in their contacts at work, socially and at home,” Vana Papaevangelou said at the Health Ministry’s daily public briefing on the course of the pandemic.

Expressing concerns about what she described as the “island load” and citing data showing a spike in transmission at many popular holiday destinations, she said that authorities expect the next two weeks to the “pivotal” as the peak of the summer holiday season winds down and hundreds of thousands of Greeks return home and go back to work or school.

“We expect a significant risk of transfer of the viral load to mainland Greece,” she said.

Covid-19 admissions to Greek hospitals have already risen 25% in the past two weeks and there has also been a significant increase in cases among over-65s since the start of the month, Papaevangelou added.