ATHENS, April 17 (Xinhua) -- Greek people this year will celebrate the Orthodox Easter, which falls on April 19, by adapting to the restraints of the COVID-19 lockdown, local experts and consumers told Xinhua.

The number of customers at Athens' central market Varvakeios on Friday was small compared to previous years, as Greeks have turned to e-shopping, delivery and small neighborhood stores for their purchases for the festive meal.

"Many consumers are afraid of exiting their homes. They are observing the experts' suggestions... You can see there are no crowds," said Kleanthis Tsironis, the market's president.

The entire city center is quiet these days due to the measures introduced to contain the novel coronavirus' spread.

The COVID-19 infection total in Greece stands at 2,224 and death toll at 108 since the start of the outbreak in the country on Feb. 26, the Health Ministry announced on Friday.

Greece is in lockdown since March 23. Traveling and large gatherings are forbidden, so people will celebrate at home with no big parties.

Traditionally Greeks leave the urban centers for the countryside to celebrate Easter with relatives and friends, roasting lamb meat on a spit, singing and dancing.

"It is just once. I would like to believe that after the end of this pandemic, we will be able to roast lamb and kokoretsi (a local dish consisting of lamb or goat intestines wrapped around kidneys, hearts, lungs) on a spit again," Tsironis told Xinhua.

"There is a clear message that there will be no gatherings and dancing this year. We will cook in our electric ovens and we will have a great time," he added.

"It will be entirely different, but it is just for one time. It will pass and we will be back to normal. In previous years I would travel to my summer house in Amarynthos (a town on Evia island), now I am staying here. I definitely miss the company (of relatives and friends)," Costas Alexiou, a customer at Varvakeios, said.

Arthouros, an Albanian immigrant in Athens, would travel back home to spend Easter with his family in previous years. This Sunday he will be alone celebrating the festival.

"I bought half a kilo of lamb to roast in the oven. I also got me red wine. What can we do?" he said.

Regarding the cost of the Easter meal, according to a survey conducted by the Research Institute of the Greek Hellenic Confederation of Commerce and Entrepreneurship INEMY-ESEE, this year the typical Easter meal will be marginally less expensive compared to last year.

Due to the COVID-19 crisis, there were no exports of lamb or goat meat to Italy and Spain like in previous years and prices were quite the same as last year, Valia Aranitou, Director of INEMY-ESEE, told Xinhua.

Asked about the changes the COVID-19 pandemic brought to Greeks consumers' behavior, she noted a significant increase in online shopping and deliveries in recent weeks.

"It is a change that is here to stay. I don't expect that it will end with the return to normality," she said.

The post-COVID-19 landscape for the Greek trade and economy will be different, according to the expert.

"It will be a significant challenge for the Greek economy if we notice what we saw at the start of the (debt) crisis in the years 2010, 2011 and 2012. Since it was very difficult for Greek companies to purchase and import products from abroad, they depended a lot on Greek production," she explained.

"Now we expect a replay. We believe that we will see difficulties in the imports of products again for several reasons. It could be a shortage, fear or liquidity issues. We may see this happening again," Aranitou said.

Greek economy will undergo changes and can no longer rely so heavily on the tourism industry, she added. (1 euro = 1.09 U.S. dollars) Enditem

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