Dozens of foreign tourists on lockdown at campsite in Drepano, northern Greece
Dozens of foreign tourists are in quarantine at a campsite in Drepano, in the northern Greek prefecture of Thesprotia, as part of measures to ward against the spread of the coronavirus.
The campsite hosts 41 tourists from different countries in Europe who started a tour of Greece in December in their caravans and now find themselves stranded in Epirus amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
Civil protection officials in Epirus gathered the tourists at the Drepano campsite.
Some of the tourists told the Athens-Macedonia news agency that they would like to return home to Italy but the authorities there will not accept them. Others said they want to continue their journey.
Carol and Phil, from the UK, said they felt safe at the campsite, noting that the Greek government had moved to impose restrictive measures early, unlike the authorities in their homeland. They said they planned to continue their tour of the country once the pandemic has passed.
Another couple from the Czech Republic, Leos and Yana, said they had combined their vacation with jobs as they both work online. They arrived at the campsite last Friday from Parga and were asked to stay at the site as part of a lockdown order.
Leos said he was keen to return home but their are no outgoing flights. However he said life at the campsite is good. "The government did a good job," he said. "We've felt safe during the whole month of this crisis."
A group of six friends from France told the agency that they want to return home. "We don't understand why, as European citizens, we can't go back to our country," they said.
