Greece says to shut remaining hotels to end-April

Greece's tourism ministry on Thursday said it had ordered a temporary shutdown until the end of April of full-time hotels to limit the spread of the coronavirus.

"To protect hotel staff, the government has decided to suspend the operation of all-year hotels to the end of April," the ministry said.

The measure will take effect on Sunday, it said.

The ministry said three hotels apiece would be allowed to operate in Athens and Thessaloniki, and one per regional capital.

There are five confirmed deaths from COVID-19 in Greece. A sixth death was reported on Thursday.

Greece had already progressively tightened restrictions on trade and public gatherings, shutting down seasonal hotels until the end of April.

The Hellenic chamber of hotels this week said it had already calculated a 522-million-euro ($572-million) blow to the tourism season because of the virus.

© 2020 AFP