A week ago, Health Ministry officials estimated that, by the end of October, Greece will likely be classified as a "red" country for Israelis, meaning that travelers returning from there will be quarantined for two weeks.
As of yesterday, this was indeed the position of the Health Ministry. But on Thursday morning, there was a change in this recommendation, N12 reported.
The final decision on the issue is still subject to the approval of Health Ministry director-general Prof. Chezy Levy as the discussion on the issue was exceptionally postponed to next week.
Senior Health Ministry officials told N12 last week that "in view of the situation, we estimate that by the end of the month, Greece will be turned into a red country."
"However, despite our concern [about the disease], it is likely that there will also be political and economic pressure to keep it green, since turning Greece into a red state will cause economic and political damage, following the festive agreement in August."
There are also concerns that Greece will make the decision to close its doors to tourists due to rising infection rates both there and in many European countries.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsutakis declared a night curfew last Saturday in the areas worst hit by the coronavirus, announcing traffic restrictions in several areas of the country, including the capital Athens.
Kozani and Kastoria, two cities in northern Greece, are the worst affected in the country so far and a local lockdown has already been declared there, as well as in other areas in the north of the country, including the Attica region, which includes Athens.
In Greece, the number of virus infections was significantly lower compared to other European countries, although they began to rise in early October, in parallel with an increase in the number of tests.