ATHENS, July 17 (Xinhua) -- Greek government announced on Saturday that a night curfew will be re-imposed on Mykonos island after a surge in COVID-19 infections.
The 01:00 a.m.-06:00 a.m. curfew will be effective from July 17 to July 26, according to an e-mailed press statement signed by Deputy Minister for Civil Protection and Crisis Management Nikos Hardalias.
Moreover, as of Saturday afternoon until July 26, around-the-clock music will not be allowed in clubs and bars on the island.
Mykonos, along with Santorini, Crete, Paros and Ios, have witnessed a significant increase in COVID-19 cases in the last few days.
Between July 7 and July 14, the daily infection rate jumped from 77 to 318 on Mykonos, according to Hardalias.
The increase is attributed to crowded parties in combination with the spreading of the highly contagious Delta variant across the country.
Gatherings of more than 20 persons for events in private, non-business places are still forbidden nationwide, said the press statement. Violators face fines of up to 200,000 euros (236,000 U.S. dollars).
Greece has imposed two nationwide lockdowns since the start of the pandemic. The second one was being gradually relaxed from spring for the reopening of tourism and other sectors of the economy.
This month, the daily number of new infections across the country exceeded 3,000 for the first time in four months. Enditem
