Greece has changed its mind and will allow Brits to visit on holiday next month but holidaymakers will have to follow strict quarantine rules.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said that Brits will be tested for coronavirus on arrival into the country and if negative, will need to self-quarantine for seven days.
If the test is positive, then holidaymakers will be required to quarantine under supervision for 14 days.
The announcement comes days after the country's government said that it would be banning the UK when international flights resume on June 15 because of our poor coronavirus record.
But now, in an apparent change of heart, they are allowing Brits to visit along with other countries who have similar COVID-19 data but they will have to follow the strict quarantine rules.
Tests will be carried out on all visitors arriving from airports deemed high-risk by the European Union's aviation safety agency EASA when Greece opens its airports to tourism traffic on June 15.
A total of 13 airports in the UK are on the list of airports located in affected areas with high risk of transmission of the COVID-19
"If you originate from an airport on the EASA affected area list, then you will be tested upon arrival," the ministry of foreign affairs said in an announcement, adding that movement restrictions will also apply.
"If the test is negative, then the passenger self-quarantines for 7 days. If the test is positive, the passenger is quarantined under supervision for 14 days."
Visitors arriving from other areas will be randomly tested upon arrival.
Greece released a first list of 29 countries it considered safe on Friday and said it would be reviewed again before July 1, depending on the evolving situation.
The countries were; Albania, Australia, Austria, North Macedonia, Bulgaria, Germany, Denmark, Switzerland, Estonia, Japan, Israel, China, Croatia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lebanon, Lithuania, Malta, Montenegro, New Zealand, Norway, South Korea, Hungary, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Czech Republic and Finland.
The list was compiled after a study of the epidemiological profile of the countries of origin of the tourists and after taking into account announcements from the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), as well as the relevant proposal of the Infectious Diseases Committee.
The Mediterranean nation, which emerged from a decade-long debt crisis in late 2018, relies heavily on tourism - about 20% of its output - for its economic recovery.
A nationwide lockdown imposed in March helped Greece contain the spread of infections to just below 3,000 cases, a relatively low number compared with elsewhere in the European Union.
But it brought the tourism sector to a virtual standstill.
Greece's economy is seen contracting by up to 10% this year.
