ATHENS – Following the lifting of the mandate for face masks at indoor and outdoor public spaces, the coronavirus specialists committee of the Health Ministry issued clarifications on Wednesday.

As the government had announced earlier, based on committee guidelines, masks are not obligatory any more in indoor or outdoor places as of June 1, except in public transportation, hospitals, and elderly care facilities. With its further proposalss, accepted by the government, the following also holds as of June 1:

– In taxis, both drivers and passengers must wear masks.

– On cruise ships, masks are not required. They will however become obligatory again if over 2% of passengers contract coronavirus, or over 4% of the crew within a week, or over 1% of all on board within 48 hours.

– On passenger ships, masks do not have to be worn outside (on the decks), but both passengers and crew must wear them indoors.

– At pharmacies, staff and customers are obliged to wear masks.

Earlier in the day, the committee had said all means of public transport will keep the mandate of masks for staff and passengers (buses, trolleys, metro, tram and suburban railway trains), while they will not be required on airplanes or on means of transport where seats are numbered (intercity trains and the country’s long-distance KTEL coaches).

Masks are also required in schools during the final exams.