Stock image of people enjoying their day at a beach, near Athens
(Picture: AP)Greece will end its mandatory face mask rule on planes and in indoor public settings in a boost for holidaymakers.
The Covid curbs will be lifted from June 1 ahead of the summer holidays.
Face masks will not have to be worn in airports and on flights in Europe from May 16, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said this month.
Rules for wearing masks have varied after the mandatory requirement was dropped.
Airlines have encouraged tourists flying with them to wear masks on flights to or from destinations where wearing a mask on public transport is still required.
Greece’s Health Minister Thanos Plevris said in a televised message: “Mandatory mask-wearing remains in hospitals, nursing homes and urban transport like buses, metro and tram.”
An expert committee will announce its decision for ferry passengers next week, he added.
Greece dropped the requirement for masks to be worn in restaurants, bars and night entertainment establishments in early March.
There were 4,626 coronavirus cases on Wednesday and 19 Covid-related deaths, health authorities said.
It brings the country’s total number of infections since the first case was detected two years ago to 3,406,553 million and total deaths to 29,619.
