Greece to reopen museums on May 14 ahead of official tourism season

Easing coronavirus restrictions, Greece has decided to reopen its museums to visitors on May 14, a day before the beginning of the official tourism season. The country started easing restrictions late last month after a diminutive reduction in the coronavirus cases.  

The country of nearly 11 million people has seen over 358,116 infections and 11,000 deaths due to the pandemic. Greece has been under coronavirus-related restrictions since early November but has steadily started to ease the measures as it gets ready for its summer tourist season.

Reopening Greece

The country has already reopened primary schools and junior highs for in-person classes this week for the first time in months. Restaurants, bars and cafes opened last week for outdoor service for the first time since November, while retail stores have also reopened on an appointment-based system.

Now, it has scheduled venues such as Athens’ Acropolis museum to reopen on May 14. These venues have been closed since mid-November when a second was imposed to control the spread of the virus.

Domestic travel between regions will begin at the end of this week, when museums will also reopen on May 14, while open-air movie theatres are scheduled to reopen next week.

Easing restrictions

Judiciary bodies have also restarted many activities with civil courts reopening to all cases and criminal courts hearing cases involving defendants in custody. Limitations have been placed on the number of people inside the courtroom to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

Meanwhile, Italy plans to lift quarantine restrictions for tourists arriving from European countries, Britain and Israel in mid-May. The rest of Europe is looking forward to easing travel restrictions on foreign tourists, with a few guidelines. The United States is also seeking to mobilize tourism.