On Saturday, Greece's Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis decided to shut most restaurants and bars in many areas of the country for one month stating from next Tuesday to contain COVID-19 outbreak.
The country has reported less cases of the novel coronavirus than most in Europe, but has seen a gradual increase in infections since early October.
In a public address, the Premier said that most restaurants, bars, coffee houses, cinemas, museums and closed gyms will be shut from this coming Tuesday for a period of one month across northern Greece and Attica region, which includes the capital Athens.
"A curfew on night-time movement, applicable to the hardest-hit areas until now, would be expanded across the country from midnight to 5.00 am." he added.
The Prime Minister confirmed “These new rules are focused on two sources which are, verifiable, conducive to the spread of the virus; entertainment and the movement of people.
He said authorities would introduce support measures, costing an estimated 1.5 billion euros, to the sectors impacted. Greece has already disbursed more than 14 billion euros to support the economic impact of the first wave of the virus.
Retail businesses, industry and schools will remain open, along with service industries like hotels and hairdressing salons.
The regional lockdowns affect the most populous regions of the country; Attica has a population of 3.9 million and the northern regions about 1.5 million.
Greece registered a new peak of 1,690 new COVID-19 cases on Friday, and five deaths bringing the number of victims since the onset of the virus in late February to 620.
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