ATHENS – After a lenient quasi-lockdown didn't work – there are even traffic jams in places – Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis' New Democracy government is asking people to follow holiday guidelines for smaller numbers at holiday dinner tables.

A limit of nine people has been set with no word on how that could be enforced inside people's homes during the holiday period, while churches can only have nine people, 25 in small cathedrals and 50 in larger ones.

The second lockdown, far less stringent than a 10-week near-complete closing in March that worked to hold down the number of cases and deaths, hasn't worked to Government spokesman Stelios Petsas, meeting with reporters, urged the public against complacency during the holidays, which hasn't worked either, the second lockdown extended to at least Jan. 7, 2021.