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I read on IATA for Greece:

  1. Passengers are subject to medical screening and quarantine for 1 or 14 days.

On what basis do the Greek authorities decide how long a passenger entering Greece will stay in quarantine?

Full IATA information:

Greece (Published 27.07.2020):

  1. Passengers are not allowed to enter until 31 July 2020. -This does not apply to:
  • nationals of Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland (Rep.), Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland and their family members;
  • British nationals and their family members;
  • nationals of Algeria, Australia, Canada, Georgia, Japan, Korea (Rep.), Montenegro, Morocco, New Zealand, Rwanda, Thailand, Tunisia and Uruguay;
  • residents of Algeria, Australia, Canada, Georgia, Japan, Korea (Rep.), Montenegro, Morocco, New Zealand, Rwanda, Thailand, Tunisia and Uruguay;
  • passengers with a residence permit issued by Greece. A certificate of application for renewal of a residence permit is not accepted;
  • passengers with a residence permit issued by Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland (Rep.), Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland or the United Kingdom;
  • passengers with a long term visa issued by Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland (Rep.), Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland or the United Kingdom;
  • nationals of North Macedonia (Rep.) returning via Thessaloniki (SKG) to continue by road to North Macedonia (Rep.). Their trip must be prearranged by the authorities;
  • military personnel. 2. Passengers are subject to medical screening and quarantine for 1 or 14 days.
  1. Flights from Turkey are suspended until 31 July 2020.
  • This does not apply to humanitarian, medevac, military and repatriation flights.
  1. Passengers must complete a "Passenger Locator Form (PLF)" at least 24 hours before check-in at https://travel.gov.gr/#/ . A QR code generated from the completed form must be presented upon arrival.
  2. Passengers arriving from Albania and North Macedonia (Rep.) must arrive at Athens (ATH).
  3. Effective 28 July 2020 and until 4 August 2020, passengers arriving from Bulgaria or Romania must have a medical certificate with a negative Coronavirus (COVID-19) PCR test result issued at most 72 hours before arrival.
  • This does not apply to nationals of Greece and passengers with a residence permit issued by Greece.
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    travel.gov.gr/#/protocol_air says: The test results are expected [...] within 24 hours. During that time, passengers who are tested are advised to practise social distancing [...] Only in case they test positive, the authorities will contact them and proceed with the health protocol in place [...] My travel agent sent me a letter talking about "self isolation" during those first 24 hours. So my guess is: 1 day if the test is negative, will be extended to 14 days in case of a positive test. But as I said, only a guess, and therefore only a comment, no answer...
    – Sabine
    Jul 28, 2020 at 19:33
  • @Sabine Thanks for sharing the information!
    – Franck Dernoncourt
    Jul 28, 2020 at 19:58
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    The opinion-based close voter is welcome to explain their logic. That's a purely factual question right here. Officials typically follow guidelines/regulations.
    – Franck Dernoncourt
    Jul 28, 2020 at 20:04

1 Answer 1

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https://gr.usembassy.gov/covid-19-information/ (mirror):

On July 9, the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs posted procedures for international arrivals. See the airport website for additional details. If you are tested for COVID-19, you are permitted to travel to your final destination where you must self quarantine for 24 hours. If positive, you will be notified and quarantined for 14 days. If negative, you will not be notified, and there are no additional quarantine restrictions.

The Athens International Airport (ATH)'s website has indeed more information:

Are quarantine restrictions applied for the arriving passengers?

Depending on their QR code/confirmation, visitors will be subject to test upon arrival. Upon being tested, the visitor is free to move to the final destination. The test results are expected to become available within 24 hours. During that time, passengers who are tested are advised to practice social distancing according to local guidelines and self-monitoring for symptoms that could indicate COVID-19. In case of such symptoms, medical advice and/or contact with the National Public Health Organization (EODY) Operations Centre should be immediately sought.

Only in case they test positive, the authorities will contact them and proceed with the health protocol in place. The procedure of a 24-hour stay at a dedicated hotel, under Greek State supervision, is no longer valid.

For further information or questions regarding the procedure, you may contact the General Secretariat of Civil Protection at 0030 2103359002-3 or email at [email protected].

In case you need to contact the National Public Health Organization (EODY) Operations Centre, you may call (0030) 210 5212054 or e-mail at [email protected]

One can also contact ATH airport via https://www.aia.gr/traveler/contact/

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    That clause "If negative, you will not be notified" is really bad. It presupposes that communication are 100% effective. So if you test positive and the notification process fails, the technically you don't have to self isolate for 14 days.
    – Peter M
    Jul 29, 2020 at 12:59
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    @PeterM OTOH most tests will turn out to be negative; so communicating them will be only a waste of resources. By stablishing this rule the team can concentrate in locating the people who tested positive and who are the only ones who matter. Otherwise, either you need extra resources to communicate with everybody or you end needlessly self-isolating.
    – SJuan76
    Jul 31, 2020 at 23:14
  • @SJuan76 "communicating them will be only a waste of resources" -> 100% automatable
    – Franck Dernoncourt
    Jul 31, 2020 at 23:15
  • @FranckDernoncourt Simply put, no. Not even with IT systems that have been setup with ample time to spare, and much less with emergency solutions that deal with an ever changing scenario and rules.
    – SJuan76
    Jul 31, 2020 at 23:18
  • @SJuan76 The issue boils down to "1. Assuming you are covid free until told otherwise" vs "2. Assuming that you are covid infected until told otherwise". Each assumption should involve a similar amount of effort to implement as you still need to be able to test, track, contact 100% of travelers. But each has a different amount of risk as well. The worst case scenario of Assumption #2 is that a person unnecessarily quarantines. But the worst case scenario of Assumption #1 is that an infected person swans around the country infecting all and sundry and causes a huge spike in covid infections.
    – Peter M
    Aug 1, 2020 at 20:23

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