Farmers markets, supermarket admissions being restricted

As the death toll from the new coronavirus rose to eight and the number of infections to 495 on Friday, the government announced fresh measures to protect the public from the rapidly spreading epidemic.

One of several measures announced at a press conference by Deputy Civil Protection Minister Nikos Hardalias was the restriction of farmers markets, a mainstay for many Greek households.

He said that no markets will take place on Saturday and that as of Monday they would be halved in size as sellers enter a weekly rotation program and maintain a distance of at least 5 meters between stalls.

Hardalias also said that measures at supermarkets will be tightened from Monday, with the minimum amount of space allotted per shopper raised to 15 square meters from the current 10.