ATHENS – In a move that could be a disincentive for some about coming to Greece for the holiday period, even with international air traffic limited, visitors will be required to undergo a mandatory 10-day quarantine as a precaution against COVID-19.

They will also have to take a a rapid antigen test at the airport and produce a negative PCR test showing they didn't arrive with the Coronavirus, government spokesman Stelios Petsas said.

The government is trying to cope with a still resurgent second wave that a second quasi-lockdown failed to slow sufficiently with so many loopholes allowing people out of their homes, even seeing heavy traffic on the roads at some points, even during times when places allowed to be open, such as pharmacies and banks, are closed.

In a televised briefing, Petsas said the measure will apply from Dec. 18 18 to Jan. 7, 2021, the day the second month of a second lockdown is scheduled to lift unless the pandemic hasn't been brought under control enough.

The self-isolation will include Greek students returning from abroad, or anyone traveling for business or other reasons, he said without indicating how it would work, if the students would just go home to their families and consider that a quarantine.

The government is anxious about how public hospitals are dealing with the still too-high number of cases and people on ventilators in Intensive Care Units (ICUs) that has put pressure on the health sector, but visitors from abroad still allowed to enter.