Greek Tourism Minister Calls ECDC Decision To Place Aegean Islands In Red Zone 'Unfair'

Greece deems "unfair" the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control's (ECDC) decision to place the south Aegean islands, popular among tourists, in its dark red category, and is pushing for a different methodology for COVID-19 epidemic risk assessment, Tourism Minister Harry Theoharis told Sputnik

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 05th August, 2021) Greece deems "unfair" the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control's (ECDC) decision to place the south Aegean islands, popular among tourists, in its dark red category, and is pushing for a different methodology for COVID-19 epidemic risk assessment, Tourism Minister Harry Theoharis told Sputnik.

Last week, the ECDC added the islands to the dark red category on its COVID-19 map, advising against travel to and from these tourist destinations.

"Those islands have a much bigger [tourist] population during the summer months than they usually have. As a result, it is unfair to compare a very touristic region that has five or ten times more people now compared to the winter months, with a region that is getting 'empty' in the summer months," Theoharis said.

Athens has been in constant contact with the ECDC, putting forward its own risk assessment, the minister noted.

The Greek proposal centers on a more "realistic picture" of COVID-19 cases in popular summer destinations, as it asks the ECDC to take into account the number of tourists visiting each destination at any given time, according to Theoharis.

"The bookings in those 'marked' areas are not affected as there were no major cancellations, there were however some individuals who chose to cancel their holiday packages due to the ECDC decision," the minister noted.

Theoharis ruled out the possibility of lockdowns in those islands, emphasizing that Greece is the safest destination in the Mediterranean.