Greece Now Accepts Negative COVID-19 Rapid Antigen Tests for Tourists

Greek officials are upbeat concerning vaccinations seeming to beat back COVID-19 in the country. Now, Greece’s Civil Aviation Authority has announced it will allow tourists to take rapid antigen tests in order to satisfy guidelines for entering the country. 

Athens officials are determined to increase Greece’s touristic flows to try and rescue the country from the devastation COVID has heaped on tourism and other industries. So, starting June 26th, the Rapid Antigen Tests guidelines will be in place until the immunological situation changes. 

Travel to Greece without a need to quarantine on arrival is permitted only from the European Union and the Schengen area. However, travelers from Australia, Bahrain, Belarus, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Canada, China, Israel, Kuwait, Montenegro, New Zealand, North Macedonia, Qatar Russia, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, Ukraine, the United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, and the United States have been exempted. 

As usual, people visiting Greece must submit a passenger locator form (PLF) by the eve of their arrival and have one of the three following documents: 

• An official vaccination certificate, stating that 14 days have passed since full vaccination for Covid-19
• A negative PCR test (in Greek, English, French, German, Italian, Spanish or Russian) performed less than 72 hours before arrival.
• A negative rapid test performed less than 48 hours before arrival.
• Or, a recovery certificate (in Greek, English, French, German, Italian, Spanish or Russian) stating the person in question has recovered from the coronavirus in the past nine months.

Additionally, Greek authorities have decided to exempt children under the age of 12 from the COVID-19 requirements, including proof that they have tested negative for the virus, according to this SchengenVisaInfo.com report.

Greece has recorded a total of 417,253 COVID-19 cases of infection, and 12,494 deaths, according to the figures published by the World Health Organization.