‘Situation remains critical’: Greece to demand negative Covid-19 test from travelers entering via land borders

Greece will close down one of its border crossings and require all travelers entering by land to prove they are coronavirus-free. Covid-19 infections have been surging in Greece despite a nationwide lockdown.

The border crossing with Albania at Krystallopigi will be closed on Friday, and everyone entering Greece through its land borders will have to present a negative test for Covid-19 taken at least 72 hours before entry, government spokesperson, Stelios Petsas, announced. 

The border crossings at Kakavia, Evzoni and Promachonas, which connect Greece with Albania, North Macedonia and Bulgaria respectively, will remain open. The crossing at Nymphaea on the Bulgarian border will be limited to trucks. 

“The situation in our country remains critical,” Petsas said, adding that the infection rate in the northern parts of the country has stayed at “very high levels” despite the nationwide lockdown imposed earlier this month. 

“This proves that citizens in many areas are being much more relaxed than the conditions demand,” Petsas said. 

Greek health officials recorded 3,209 new Covid-19 cases on Wednesday. Hospitals have been struggling with the influx of patients as the number of people intubated has reached 480 – a national record since the start of the pandemic.

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