‘Health passports’ for Greece

I'm scheduled for an early October trip to Greece. As of now my flight is still scheduled and my accommodations and car rental people still have me booked.

I hope things start to improve for everyone everywhere and will continue to monitor the situation in Greece. I'm not sure what's involved with the health passport or even where to get it let alone if Greece will allow travel from the US.

I'm crossing my fingers everything will work out for all of us!

It will be interesting to see what a "health passport" is and what the qualifications are to obtain one.

Given there is no vaccine and doctors are unsure if one acquires immunity by having had it and recovered, it makes the idea of a health passport an intriguing one.

Thanks for the update Alan! We have a corporate trip scheduled for mid-September that was originally postponed from late-May.

Thanks for sharing a very interesting article.

The "Yellow Card" is for vaccinations. Not the virus. You can't have this type of card until there is a vaccine for the coronavirus.

Even if you get a coronavirus screening on one day, you could still catch it the next. So this won't work that well.

Tourism accounts for 18% of Greece's GDP. That's a lot. I doubt they can last very long without tourists.

It's a good read for the purpose of understanding thought processes and possibilities, but there is not one statement of fact in the story relative to laws on future tourism to Greece.

Here's a comment from the health minister of Greece regarding tourists from the US & Asia:

"Speaking in a realistic tone, the minister said that – once restrictions are lifted and travel is allowed again – he does not expect visitors from long haul destinations like the US or Asia to come to Greece this year."

It's not clear if that means Greece will ban all travelers from US/Asia or whether people from those countries will want to travel to Greece. Or even if those countries will allow their citizens to travel to foreign countries.

I’ve been monitoring as best as I can the situation in Greece as I have a 16 day vacation planned for September. I have read about the Health Passport, and this is an article I just came across:

https://news.gtp.gr/2020/04/22/greece-expected-tighten-covid-19-measures-may-day-weekend/

I’m not sure how to post a link here, but I hope it goes through.
Best of luck to all of us with plans already made!

That's actually promising news.

For those with serious intent to visit Greece this year, this site may be helpful for info on the situation and requirements

https://www.osac.gov/Content/Report/128f9da7-6782-47a0-a504-188400d055f4

Thanks for the link, Edmonds, always good knowing where to get reliable information from!

Excellent information.

I sure hope this will calm down soon. We have a booking for end of July. We are driving from Macedonia.

Some more information about Greek thinking which might be of interest. Things seem to be moving, but slowly.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/26/greece-preparing-new-tourism-rules-in-wake-of-coronavirus

Alan

Thank you, Alan! Although my trip is only in September, I’m concerned about possible restrictions for US tourists...