Fine for unauthorized movement during lockdown doubled
The deputy minister for civil protection on Friday warned that abuse of a system giving citizens authorization via SMS to leave their house during the lockdown will carry a heavier fine than it did in the spring.
Speaking at the daily coronavirus briefing on Thursday afternoon, Nikos Hardalias warned that leaving home without applying for approval from the 13033 hotline or for any other reason than those justified by the authorities incurs a fine of 300 euros, as opposed to 150 euros during the first lockdown in spring.
Under the SMS system, cellphone users must send the toll-free 13033 hotline the number corresponding to one of six approved reasons to leave home, followed by their name and address. The six reasons are: 1. Visiting a pharmacy or a doctor, the latter by appointment only; 2. Doing a shopping run to a supermarket or grocery store, when delivery is not an option; 3. Visiting a bank when an online transaction is not possible; 4. Providing assistance to someone in need or chaperoning children to/from school; 5. Attending a funeral or exercising parental visitation rights; 6. Physical exercise or walking a pet – up to two people can engage in these activities on the condition that they maintain a distance of 1.5 meters from one another.
Written authorizations for people who need to travel for work or some other reason are available on the web page forma.gov.gr, though the information is only available in Greek.
Hardalias also said that people traveling into Greece from abroad will need to show evidence of a negative coronavirus test conducted within 72 hours before traveling, instead of 48 hours as originally announced.
Greece is going into its second lockdown on Saturday, expected to last three weeks.
