Greek authorities are poised to clamp down on Orthodox Easter worshippers who defy strict bans on movement amid the coronavirus pandemic, The Guardian reports.
Law enforcement will monitor churches, enlist street patrols and deploy drones to keep a lid on any unhealthy activity during the country’s most sacred holiday.
Pre-pandemic, the most significant religious event in the Orthodox calendar included raucous celebration, complete with fireworks, spit-roasted lamb, music and dancing.
“This Easter is different. We will not go to our villages. We will not roast in our yards. We will not go to our churches. And, of course, we will not gather in the homes of relatives and friends,” the government spokesman Stelios Petsas said. “For us to continue being together, this year we stay apart.
Greece has so far set the bar high on dealing with the crisis. It was shown to be the continent’s best-performing country in both flattening the curve and slowing down the spread of the virus in a study released this week by the international Bridge Tank thinktank.
To date, 105 people have died of the virus in a population of 11 million, where confirmed cases and the number of critically ill, at 2,207 and 69 respectively, are also lower than any other European state, The Guardian reports.
Still, authorities are taking no chances. Nikos Hardalias, the civil protection minister handling the country’s day-to-day COVID-19 response, warned fines would be doubled if Greeks were found to be indulging in “purposeless movement” over the long weekend.