the netherlands until 1 june, and all flights to and from albania and north macedonia and flights from turkey until 15 june, with the exemptions mentioned above. moreover, the temporary entry ban to all non-eu citizens was extended until 1 june and all international flights are allowed to land and depart only at athens eleftherios venizelos airport until that date. restrictions on entry for international travellers were lifted in mid-june and entry restrictions on british tourists were set to expire on 15 july. passengers arriving from countries with high infection rates were required to take a test and agree to a two-week quarantine. passengers from lower risk countries would be tested at random, but did not face a mandatory quarantine period. from 5 august, the kakavia border crossing is closed nightly 23-07hrs and travellers arriving from albania need to self-isolate for seven days. from 17 august, airline passengers arriving in greece from belgium, czechia, spain, the netherlands or sweden need to provide evidence of a negative covid-19 test result from the past 72 hours. the same applies to anyone entering greece by land. this requirement was lifted on 29 august concerning the netherlands. from 11 november to 7 january this requirement applied to all international arrivals. from 9 november to 28 january, domestic air travel was restricted to essential journeys only (for health purposes, business purposes, family reunification or returning to permanent residence). economic measures on 18 march, in a joint news conference, finance minister christos staikouras, labour minister yannis vroutsis, and development & investments minister adonis georgiadis announced a package of measures to support the economy, businesses and employees. the measures include the suspension, for four months, of tax and social security obligations of corporations that were ordered to close by the state decree, with the sole condition that they do not dismiss any workers. this measure covers about 220,000 businesses and 600,000 employees. the measures also include an €800 stipend as well as a four-month suspension of payment of march taxes on employees of businesses the activity of which was suspended and on freelance professionals who work in sectors affected by the pandemic. the reduction of vat tax from 24% to 6% on pharmaceutical products such as gloves, masks and antiseptics was also announced. moreover, the finance minister announced the inclusion of greece in an emergency assets purchases' program worth €750 billion launched by the european central bank, and also stated the 3.5% primary surplus target for greece is no longer in effect, according to a eurogroup decision. on 19 march, prime minister kyriakos mitsotakis, in a nationally televised address, announced the revision of the state budget to allocate more than €10 billion in support of the economy. the suspension of tax and social security obligations of corporations and the number of beneficiaries of the €800 stipend was extended to include all businesses harmed by the pandemic, all freelancers and self-employed workers and the majority of private sector workers. the state will also cover the cost of beneficiaries' insurance, pension, and health payments. the pm also stated that the easter bonus would be paid in full to all employees and announced a special bonus for health and civil protection workers. according to the international monetary fund, as of june 2020 the package of measures in support of the economy, financed from national and eu resources, totals about 14% of greece's gdp (€24 billion) including loan guarantees. greece has said it will not accept european union conditions on how coronavirus emergency aid is used. mitsotakis said "greeks have matured a lot. and we want to do our own reforms." suspension of businesses and workplaces on 12 march, a two-week closure of all theatres, courthouses, cinemas, gyms, playgrounds and clubs was announced. on 13 march, the nationwide closure of all shopping centres, cafes, restaurants, bars, museums and archaeological sites and food outlets, excluding supermarkets, pharmacies and food outlets that offer take-away and delivery only, was announced. on 14 march, all organised beaches and ski resorts were closed. on 19 march, the government announced the closure of all hotels across the country, from midnight on 22 march and until the end of april. only hotels that accommodate personnel that guard the border will continue to operate, as well as three hotels in athens and thessaloniki and one hotel per regional unit will remain open. moreover, all greek citizens returning from abroad will be subjected to mandatory surveillance and isolation for at least 14 days. on 22 march, all parks, recreation areas and marinas were also closed. from 17 to 24 august all bars, restaurants, clubs and entertainment venues in attica, crete, eastern macedonia and thrace, thessaloniki, halkidiki, larissa, corfu, mykonos, paros and antiparos, poros, santorini, volos, katerini, rhodes, zakynthos and kos were subject to nighttime curfew from midnight to 07hrs. as part of the four risk categories introduced from 12 october, different rules on opening hours, maximum capacity and seating were applied to bars, restaurants and cafés in each regional unit depending on its risk category. a second nationwide lockdown began on 7 november, lasting until december, along similar lines to that in march: only supermarkets, pharmacies and food takeaway business were allowed to remain open. during the second lockdown supermarkets were not allowed to sell non-essential items such as clothing, shoes, books, electronic equipment and electrical appliances. closure of educational institutions starting on 28 february, with four confirmed cases in the country, the precautionary local closure of schools was decided when there was concern that members of these school communities may have come into contact with a coronavirus carrier. on the same day, all educational trips abroad programmed by greek schools were suspended and various municipalities around the country began disinfecting schools locally. on 4 march, the closure of all public and private educational institutions of all levels in ilia, achaea and zakynthos was decided and from 8 march all educational trips within the country were suspended. on 10 march, the operation of all schools, universities, daycare centres and all other educational establishments were suspended nationwide for fourteen days. a special purpose leave of 15 days was introduced for working parents. ten days later, on 20 march, this was extended such that all educational institutions would remain closed until 10 april. on 10 april, the minister of education niki kerameos announced that all educational institutions would remain closed until 10 may. schools reopened on 14 september, subject to fulfilling a list of 16 conditions notably concerning hygiene measures, break times, school trips and activities. however, opposition parties and students' groups have criticised the government for the insufficiency of the measures, while many school strikes were initiated across the country. during the second national lockdown since 7 november, only special education schools remain open. secondary and tertiary education institutions were closed from 7 november; students were offered distance learning. kindergartens and primary schools were initially intended to remain open during the lockdown but joined other schools in closing down from 16 november, while schools remained closed at least until 7 january. penalties for not conforming to isolation rules a person who has tested positive and who fails to isolate can be sentenced to prison for up to five years, this rises if someone else has been infected because of the breach to ten years and in the event that the breach leads to the death of a third party, up to fifteen years in prison. refugees and migrants on 27 february, prime minister mitsotakis announced that illegal entry from turkey would no longer be tolerated as this would be a threat to public health in greece. according to various estimates about 150,600 displaced persons are located in greece. in the existing camps, doctors, ngos and refugees considered that measures against the spread of the coronavirus are lacking as people live in overcrowded spaces with little access to proper health services. on 24 march, 21 international human rights organizations active in greece including amnesty international, the human rights watch and actionaid published an open call to the greek government to take immediate measures to prevent the spread of covid-19 in the reception and identification centres, where refugees live. the conditions of the centres were criticised as deplorable and dangerous to both the refugees and public health. médecins sans frontières, which has a clinic near the moria camp, declared that the numbers in the camps had reached levels such that they could not handle an outbreak of infection within the camp. the government further announced that movement of refugees outside the camps would be restricted as facilities are prepared for confirmed cases, and that it would only allow small groups of refugees and migrants to temporarily exit the camps to obtain basic supplies. on 31 march, it was reported that two individuals were infected in the ritsona refugee camp in central greece. on 14 august, two camps in evros and drama were put into quarantine until the end of august. in september 2020 it was announced that half of the covid-19 admissions for one day in two hospitals in athens had been immigrants. "faced with increased isolation and health risk in camps, many refugees organised protests to improve living conditions in state-run camps at the beginning of the pandemic. many fled the camps illegally. but many who stayed trapped inside the camps during the lockdown initiated a range of novel practices of self- and community care". animal welfare according to an al jazeera report on 30 april 2020, animal rescue groups and shelters throughout greece have been overwhelmed with thousands of stray dogs due to the disruption of international dog adoption caused by international travel restrictions imposed in response to the covid-19 pandemic. donations the hellenic ministry of health has formed a 3-member committee responsible for the review and employment of all the donations in support of the national healthcare system during the covid-19 pandemic. on 7 may, health minister vasilis kikilias announced that donations worth about €90 million came from organisations, companies and individuals, as well as other states such as the united arab emirates and china. forty million euros were for medical equipment (icu monitors, ventilators, icu beds), another 24.2 million euros were for personal protective equipment (face masks, surgical aprons, protective uniforms, medical overshoes) and there were another €12.5 million in cash deposits. lifting of emergency measures on 28 april, greek prime minister kyriakos mitsotakis and six deputy ministers, as well as four ministers in the following days, announced the government's plan for the gradual lifting of the restrictive measures and the restart of business activity. the plan consisted of specific milestone dates and extended throughout may and june 2020. it had been evaluated continuously against the covid-19 infection rate over the following weeks and revised based on the progression of the pandemic in the country. initial stage on 4 may starting on 4 may, those moving outside their home no longer needed to send a text message or carry a declaration stating their reason, but only within the regional unit where they lived. in its 42 days of operation, from 23 march to 4 may, a total of about 110 million text messages to the number 13033 were handled, an average of 1,818 messages per minute. travel to other regional units or between islands within the same regional unit remained prohibited until 18 may. some stores opened on 4 may, however some were by appointment only and strict rules regarding the maximum number of people inside applied. the stores opening were hairdressers, bookstores, electrical appliance stores, optical and sports equipment stores, as well as vehicle inspection centres (kteo). this restart affected a total of 26,167 businesses, about 10% of those whose operation was suspended, and 68,528 employees, also about 10% of the total. the use of face masks is mandatory for employees and customers in some closed places, such as supermarkets, hospitals, pharmacies, clinics and elevators, as well as in public transport. the government recommended the use of private vehicles rather than public transport to reduce congestion. public transport increased schedules to accommodate passengers without crowding during peak hours. public sector employees attend their jobs in three stages, at 07:00, 08:00 and 09:00 in the morning in order to avoid congestion on public transport, and the special-purpose leave for parents with school-age children was extended until the