Wednesday, March 18, 2020. At this time, the Greek capital is normally buzzing with life with drivers complaining about the traffic and people rushing about on the pavements getting their shopping done, attending appointments, running errands, going for a stroll or heading to work.
Tourists and visitors normally sit at cafes and restaurants, while malls fill up with shoppers.
But not today. Athens is a deserted city that is reminiscent of scenes in science fiction movies. Few people are out and about, just a handful of cars are on the streets, and everyone is taking as many precautionary measures as possible against the invisible enemy. Medical masks and gloves are a common sight.
These are unprecedented scenes in central Athens: almost all stores all closed, few people on the streets (most wearing masks and gloves), car traffic is severely limited, normally full parking spaces are vacant and the otherwise busy cafes have been boarded up.
From today, businesses and the economy are in lockdown mode, with everyone hoping that the broader shutdown will lead to a control of the epidemic and a fast return to normal: traffic, shopping, cafes, and smiling faces.
Ermou street, one of the busiest roads in Athens, resembles an abandoned city.
As of today, banks are operating with 50 percent of their staff as their head offices empty from personnel, with most employees working from home.
Roads are just about empty: crossing Panepistimiou and Akademia streets, and even Alexandras Leoforos, can be done without waiting for the green light.
We come across an elderly man outside of a pharmacy at Syntagma square and asked him why he isn't at home. "I am alone, my children are all abroad. My eldest son is in the US and my daughter is in a non-EU country, shut out. She had gone on a work trip. There is no one to help me out. This is the first time I left the house to get my six-monthly medicine. Scenes of everything being shut in Athens turn me back many decades, to the Occupation. I never thought I would see scenes like this again," he said.
In front of Athens city hall at Kotzias Square, we come across a bank employee, an acquaintance. "I left a few weeks with a voluntary package. As I wound up my career in banking, I never expected in all my life to experience emergency scenes like this in Athens. I would see them in science fiction movies but did not believe that we would witness them in my generation," he said.
How do you see things for the banking sector? We ask.
"It had just managed to start looking towards the future with optimism after a decade-long crisis. A few months ago, after the removal of capital controls, the sector was shaken up again. We must handle the situation with seriousness. Excessive optimism does no one any good, neither does fear. We need realism,” he adds.
The economic impact of the restrictive measures looks like they will have a strong impact on the economy. Several business owners told Business Daily that turnover has plummeted by more than 50 percent.
In the few open stores, people look to be calm and waiting for their turn to be served. There are no queues, as most people are at home in an attempt to limit the spread of the virus.
Taxi drivers voiced their concerns as they struggle to cover fixed costs, while their expenses have risen to take measures to protect themselves.
Kolonaki also looks like an abandoned zone as its busy streets, stores, cafes, and restaurants are empty.
Unprecedented scenes also in Monastiraki and Thiseio, the capital's tourism areas. The narrow streets at the foot of the Acropolis are empty but for a few journalists and photographers out recording the unbelievable situation.
Churches have also closed down. Chairs block the entrance to the Church of Theotokos Gorgoepikou and Agios Eleftherios at Metropoleos Square. The name Gorgoepikoos is of Byzantine origin, meaning "from high speed and quick help". It is one of the Byzantine temples built in the city of Athens.
Roads at Monastiraki market are also empty.
Silence reigns at Valaoritou street, with all the cafes, shut.
Stefanos Tsoulakis
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