Restrictions applying for Holy Week & Orthodox Easter

In an announcement on Thursday 22nd April, government spokeswoman Aristotle Peloni laid out the restrictions that will apply – and the changes to them – for the holiday period of Holy Week & Orthodox Easter in Greece.

She said: “The pandemic seems to be stabilizing and the positivity index is declining but the viral load still remains very high in many areas, such as Attica and the big cities.”  This is why the government has decided not to allow inter-regional travel at Easter. “Mass movement of people involves the risk of the virus spreading everywhere,” Mrs Peloni stressed. “Our goal – as Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis stressed yesterday – is a safe Easter and a free summer.”

In more detail:

Church services: During Holy Week and Easter, distancing regulations apply: 1 person/25m2 inside churches, and 1 person/10m2 for outside areas. For the faithful it is obligatory to use a double mask, while for the priests, nuns, cantors and other staff inside the church, it will be obligatory to perform a self test .

The procession of the Epitaph will take place only in the outside spaces of the churches, without a procession of believers, and pilgrimages will take place outside only. There are changes to curfew: during Holy Week and on Easter Sunday curfew starts at 10 pm, while on Easter Monday curfew is from 11 pm.

Addionally, the government announced that on Easter Sunday, there will be the possibility of gathering in small groups to celebrate. On Easter Sunday, two families of up to 9 people can gather indoors, and if the gathering is outdoors, up to 12 people.

It was also announced that vaccinations will continue normally during Holy Week, pausing only for one day, on Easter Sunday, in order for health workers to celebrate Easter.

Watch the announcement here (in Greek): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8bH-qTf270