EU health body warns against visiting popular Greek islands over COVID-19

FILE PHOTO: People enjoy the view in a cafe in Little Venice as Greece banned music in restaurants and bars and imposed a nighttime curfew on the island of Mykonos, Greece, July 18, 2021. REUTERS/Louiza Vradi

ATHENS (Reuters) -Greece's south Aegean islands were marked dark red on the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control's COVID-19 map on Thursday after a rise in infections, meaning all but essential travel to and from the region is discouraged.

The cluster of 13 islands includes Greece's most popular destinations for foreign tourists - Mykonos, Santorini and Rhodes - which, combined, draw millions of people every summer.