Greece rolls out red carpet to visitors as airports reopen
Expert says US heading in the ‘wrong direction,’ warns it could see 100,000 cases a day if the current trend continued; Spain and Portugal celebrate as they reopen land border
With traditional music and sweets, Greece reopened its regional airports to international travellers on Wednesday, pinning its hopes on a recovery in tourism after a three-month lockdown.
Greece’s tourism sector accounts for a fifth of its economic output and employs 700,000 people.
“We decided in this weird time to come because we feel that it’s a safe country,” said Suzana Vosatkova from the Czech Republic as she arrived on the island of Rhodes.
On some islands, including Rhodes and Crete, tourists were offered Greek sweets and greeted with live music from performers in traditional dress, wearing the mandatory and not-so-traditional facemask.
Dozens of flights were expected on Wednesday at Greece’s 18 regional airports, which link to some of its most popular resorts.
All travellers must fill in a passenger locator form at least 48 hours before entering the country. Random tests will be conducted upon arrival.
The European Union (EU) reopened its borders on Wednesday to visitors from 15 countries but excluded the United States, where coronavirus deaths are spiking once again, six months after the first cluster was reported in China.
The final list of nations safe enough to allow residents to enter the EU did not include Russia, Brazil or the US, where the daily death toll passed 1,000 on Tuesday for the first time since June 10.
US infectious diseases expert Anthony Fauci said the United States was heading in the “wrong direction” and warned it could see 100,000 cases a day if the current trend continued.
Several US states imposed 14-day quarantines on travellers from other states.
Travellers from China, where the virus first emerged late last year, will be allowed to enter the bloc only if Beijing reciprocates and opens the door to EU residents.
Romanian Cojan Dragos was “the first tourist” in one Corfu hotel. He drove with his wife and daughter and said: “We have the whole hotel just for us.”
“It’s empty, there’s not a single tourist, the restaurants, the shops are closed, it’s sad,” he said, hoping for some excitement when other tourists arrive.
Separately, Spain and Portugal held a ceremony as they reopened their land border, which the Portuguese had kept shut for fear of importing cases from its harder-hit neighbour.
The Netherlands also confirmed the reopening on Wednesday.
“I’m totally booked,” said Foxxy, adding that she had held a “little party” when she heard restrictions would be lifted.
Russians were enjoying a public holiday on Wednesday.
The German state of North Rhine-westphalia has extended a lockdown on a district hit by a outbreak at a slaughterhouse.
Parts of the Australian city of Melbourne suffered sharp rises in infections, spurring new stay-at-home measures affecting some 300,000 people.
In the US, Fauci, a member of President Donald Trump’s coronavirus task force, warned Congress on Tuesday that officials were “not in total control right now.”
Spikes in Texas and Florida are driving the national increase and need to be tamped down quickly, Fauci said.
Texas alone reported 6,975 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, its highest tally yet in an outbreak that has killed some 127,000 people nationwide — a quarter of the global total.
The Pan American Health Organization warned, meanwhile, that the death toll in Latin America and the Caribbean could quadruple to more than 400,000 by October without stricter public health measures.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has promised an “infrastructure revolution” to help the country out of the downturn, but critics dismissed the plan as a rehash of previous pledges.
“Maybe it was because we were healthier and not exhausted anymore, and we had lots of quality time together at home,” said Indonesian Novarina, pregnant with her first child after two years of trying.
“My husband and I joke that this is a corona baby.”