COVID-19 Brings Music Ban, Restrictions on Party Island Mykonos – The National Herald

Adding to a night curfew put in place to try to stem the rising tide of COVID-19 because people aren't obeying health measures, music has been prohibited on the wild party island of Mykonos, a prime reason why people go there.

Notorious for tax cheating, hedonism by the super-rich and uninhibited, the island also has see people in mobs along the waterfront, violating safe social distances and adding to the spread of the Coronavirus.

The New Democracy government lured tourists there, those who were supposed to be vaccinated or free of COVID, but hadn't required tourism workers to be inoculated to slow the spread of the disease.

Music had been banned earlier in restaurants and bars across the country because health officials said it would bring people in too close contact but photos from the showed overwhelming masses anyway.

The news agency Reuters said the Civil Protection Ministry said the restrictions, including the curfew, will be in place until July 26 at least as it's still trying to attract tourists and Mykonos is a favored destination.

Greece relies on tourism to bring in as much as 18-20 percent of the annual Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of 169.67 billion euros ($200.3 billion), which plummeted in 2020 during the pandemic after a run of record years.

Infections have been soaring after being held down, the rise said largely because of so many people refusing to be vaccinated, less than half the country fully inoculated so far.

That led the government to make shots mandatory for health care workers but not tourism workers and as officials said it's not tourists spreading the virus and the dreaded Delta variant.

Restaurants, bars and taverns are also being allowed to let vaccinated and unvaccinated customers mix together with no word from the government's advisory panel of doctors and scientists why that's been so.

We call on the residents, visitors and professionals on our beautiful island to strictly follow the measures so that we can quickly control and contain the spreading of the virus and Mykonos can return to normality, the ministry said.

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COVID-19 Brings Music Ban, Restrictions on Party Island Mykonos - The National Herald