Terrified that we are tourists

​For the last week we have been out of lockdown and have been lucky enough to go to the beach and outside archaeological sites in Athens. However, as each country debates how and when to let tourist in it is clear from the reaction we get from locals that they don’t want tourists from England just yet.

​Pretty much every person we greet quickly learns that we are not local and are in fact English. On learning this, you see panic and confusion cross their faces. They imminently ask: “where are you from”, we confirm that we are English. You can again see them wanting to get the recommended two meters away and hand sanitise as soon as it wouldn’t be insulting. I have now learnt to say to people we meet as soon as possible that we have been here since September and are no more a threat than any other Greek. At this, they automatically ease and try and cover up their natural fear embedded by all the headlines of the thousands dying in Britain due to Covid-19.
 
We have seen this week that Britain is not included in the first wave of countries being allowed to holiday in Greece this summer. From our experience, it is clear that many Greeks would be terrified to have anyone from Britain flying over anytime soon, and it’s understandable. At writing this, Greece has only had 168 deaths, and the UK has had 36,393.  There is lots of debate to why Greece has been relatively unscathed by the virus in comparison to the UK. Still, one thing is for sure, Greece receives over 30 million tourists each year and only has a population of under 11 million.  The tourists from all over the world would outnumber the Greeks 3/1 and could quickly spread the virus across Greece, overwhelming the Greek health care, especially on the islands that do not have hospitals close by. The arrival of tourists would reboot the economy, but the loss of life could be equally devastating.
 
Greece will have to balance the damage to the economy with the strain on their health service and loss of life. If you are planning a holiday to Greece very soon, I would consider the risk to both yourself and those around you. It is essential to understand that you might be escaping the long months of lockdown you have endured, but to Greece, you will be a genuine threat.

Written & Published by Alex Hood