Bicycles Help Maintain Better Social Distancing

A man wears a mask while riding on mobike past the closed Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market, which has been linked to cases of coronavirus, on January 17, 2020 in Wuhan, Hubei province, China. Getty Images
A man wears a mask while riding on mobike past the closed Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market, which has been linked to cases of coronavirus, on January 17, 2020 in Wuhan, Hubei province, China. Getty Images
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Bicycles Help Maintain Better Social Distancing

A man wears a mask while riding on mobike past the closed Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market, which has been linked to cases of coronavirus, on January 17, 2020 in Wuhan, Hubei province, China. Getty Images
A man wears a mask while riding on mobike past the closed Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market, which has been linked to cases of coronavirus, on January 17, 2020 in Wuhan, Hubei province, China. Getty Images

If you have to leave the house for compelling reasons, there is no better option than a bicycle, according to health experts, especially amid the "stay home" recommendation currently echoed by the world's governments as part of the global efforts to curb the spread of coronavirus (Covid-19).

"In this way, people won't face each other at the two-meter danger distance within which the virus can be transmitted," the German News Agency cited statistics expert Gerd Antes as saying.

"I can't but recommend cycling," added Antes who studies the coronavirus transmission methods. The expert sees that the bicycle is a 100 percent isolated transport, as the driver is the only person who touches it, unlike in buses and trains, where myriads of people touch the same buttons, seats, and handles.

Antes, who also heads a medical center at the University of Freiburg, Germany, said: "The bicycle ensures a high level of protection as it allows you to maintain the required safe distance all the time." In addition, by riding the bicycle, you are reducing the number of people using public transport, which gathers a huge number of people at the same time and have a significantly higher risk of infection.

Therefore, if you have an old bicycle abandoned in your garage, clean it and let it accompany you in the coming days.



Acropolis Trims Hours Again Amid Greek Heatwave

A drone view of the empty Acropolis, after the authorities closed the site for the hottest part of the day, as a heatwave grips Athens, Greece, July 8,  2025. REUTERS/Stelios Misinas
A drone view of the empty Acropolis, after the authorities closed the site for the hottest part of the day, as a heatwave grips Athens, Greece, July 8, 2025. REUTERS/Stelios Misinas
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Acropolis Trims Hours Again Amid Greek Heatwave

A drone view of the empty Acropolis, after the authorities closed the site for the hottest part of the day, as a heatwave grips Athens, Greece, July 8,  2025. REUTERS/Stelios Misinas
A drone view of the empty Acropolis, after the authorities closed the site for the hottest part of the day, as a heatwave grips Athens, Greece, July 8, 2025. REUTERS/Stelios Misinas

The Acropolis in Athens will limit its operating hours for a second straight day because of heatwave conditions, the Greek culture ministry said Wednesday.

The ministry in a statement said the world-renowned site would be shut till 5:00 pm (1400 GMT) "for the safety of workers and visitors, owing to high temperatures."

The four-day heatwave confirmed by meteorologists began Sunday and is the second to grip Greece since late June.

Temperatures are expected to reach 41 Celsius (105.8 Fahrenheit) on Wednesday, with a maximum of 37 Celsius in Athens, according to national weather service EMY.

The Greek civil protection authority has warned of high fire risk in the greater Athens area, in central Greece and the Peloponnese peninsula on Wednesday.

The heatwave will abate on Thursday.