ATHENS – Greece’s six-week second lockdown aimed at slowing the spread of COVID-19 is being partially eased Jan. 18, with beleaguered retail stores allowed to open with limited customers and requirements to keep meeting health measures.

Development Minister Adonis Georgiadis announced the restart of retail trade after non-essential stores had been closed half of the previous 20 weeks, drawing worry that many wouldn’t survive the pandemic if kept shut longer.

Retail businesses, hairdressers, beauty salons, dietitians and roadworthiness testing centers (KTEO) are set to open their doors, with optional hours between 7 a.m. and 8 p.m. said Kathimerini.

Customers will have two hours to make purchases. A maximum of four consumers will be allowed in stores up to 100 square meters (1292 square feet), and one consumer per 25 square meters (269 square feet) in stores over that size, also applicable to malls which have been shuttered.

Everyone must wear masks – although some wear them on their chins – and keep a safe social distance of at least 1.5 meters apart, widely ignored in supermarkets and impossible on public transport.

In areas with higher cases of the Coronavirus, people will be able to shop only by using the click-and-collect method of making purchases online and then making reservations for pickups outside stores for now.