WRAPUP 4- apos;It apos;s Dead Out Here apos;: China apos;s Slow Exit From Zero-COVID

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LONDON, July 4 (Reuters) - The father of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Saturday defended his decision to fly to Greece even though at that time the government advice was for UK nationals to avoid all but essential international travel.

"I don't know what the reaction of the British public (has been), I came here to have a quiet time to organise the house," he said in comments to local reporters carried by Sky News, referring to measures to make the property COVID-19 secure for taxi from Pelion to delphi lettings.







Greek government officials confirmed on Thursday that author Stanley Johnson had arrived, likely via Bulgaria, in the northern region of Pelion, where he has a holiday home, but said there was nothing untoward in his arrival.



Stanley Johnson, 79, who just months ago flew to his Greek villa in brazen defiance of the pandemic travel warnings, was spotted without a face covering as he popped into his local newsagents in West London on Tuesday for a newspaper.

We are following the instructions of the relevant authorities, health authorities and police," he said, declining to elaborate. The local governor of the southern Pelion airport bus region, Michalis Mitzikos, said: "The relevant authorities are aware of the presence of Mr Johnson here and will act accordingly.

If a citizen from these countries arrives in a different way to Greece, of course they can come." Greek government spokesman Stelios Petsas said: "We have banned flights, direct flights from UK and Sweden until July 15.



Zhong Nanshan, a prominent Chinese epidemiologist, said that 99% of people now infected with the virus would recover in 7 to 10 days, in comments reported by the People's Daily, minibus taxi Katigiorgis controlled by the ruling Communist Party.







The scenes come just months after the Prime Minister was met with a furious backlash after his father jetted to his four-bed home in Greece - ignoring Foreign Office guidance which stated no one should travel unless it was essential.

BEIJING, Dec 9 (Reuters) - Judging by Friday's quiet streets in China's capital Beijing and the reluctance of some businesses to drop COVID curbs, enduring anxieties about the coronavirus are likely to hamper a speedy return to health for the world's second-largest economy.

Although the government on Wednesday loosened key parts of its strict "zero-COVID" policy that has kept the pandemic largely at bay for the past three years, piraeus bus to Pelion many people appear wary of being too quick to shake off the shackles.

Yet China has been anything but placid during the past few weeks, with protests against COVID curbs in many cities that marked the biggest show of public discontent since President Xi Jinping came to power a decade ago.

Little more than a month after the National Health Commission stressed commitment to its strict virus containment policy, saying it was "putting people and lives first", taxi Pelion to airport price authorities have changed tack and are now telling people they have less to fear.

On the Beijing subway, many seats were empty on Friday night during what should have been rush hour, even though the city this week scrapped the need to show negative tests to ride trains or enter offices.

Amid the caution, state-broadcaster CCTV announced further easing, with tourism and entertainment venues - including theatres, libraries, internet cafes and table game centres no longer requiring COVID tests and Pelion greece taxi prices health codes.