Over the weekend Greece and Italy lifted COVID-19 restrictions, cutting out the need of proof of vaccination to the two most popular destinations in the Mediterranean. Greece nixed the requirement to show proof of vaccination or recover to attend indoor and outdoor spaces. Thanos Plevris, a health minister in Greece announced that the decision was based on data and advisement from the experts.
Greece also removed all covid restrictions for domestic and international flights, according to the Associated Press, but masks will still be required for passengers. The civil aviation authority in Greece declined to comment on Monday about this decision. Up until this past weekend travelers from the United States had to show proof of vaccination, documents stating you recovered from the disease, or a negative test.
Although restrictions have been lifted Greece has seen a rise in recent coronavirus cases. Over the past week covid cases have increased over 16%. In the meantime masks will still be required to be worn indoors until June 1st.
On Sunday Italy also lifted its restrictions. It is no longer necessary to show proof of vaccination or negative covid test for indoor businesses such as restaurants and theaters. This is also great news for the country of Italy which was one of the first to go under lockdown in the early months of 2020. Now plenty of tourists can finally experience all the sites of Rome, the pizza in Naples, or the culture within the city of Florence.
With the Summer season approaching, we should expect many European countries to have their restrictions fully lifted for travelers to enter. The pandemic of the last two years has had an effect on travel and tourism for most of the world. Now that more people are open to taking the vaccine and the demand for travel is high we should expect tourism to be close to normal or what it once was before the coronavirus pandemic.