Paphos People

eleworking for 20 per cent of the staff of businesses offering services, suspension of all events inside and outside malls, and the obligatory testing for all passengers upon arrival in the Republic were among the measures announced on Thursday after a cabinet meeting.

Health Minister Michalis Hadjipantelas said that from Monday and until the end of December, cabinet decided that telework must be introduced for 20 per cent of the staff of each company or organisation in the service sector, excluding essential services. It clarified that this percentage includes people who are working from home after being found positive for Covid-19 or are close contacts of confirmed cases and people who are on leave.

From Monday and up to January 10, 2022, all Christmas, or other events inside and outside malls are suspended. Any other events that will be held by municipalities, communities and places of religious worship, will be allowed under the responsibility of local authorities and organisers according to existing health protocols.

“In case of non-compliance with the protocols, the events will be suspended,” the minister said.

Cabinet also recommended cancellation of all school excursions by private individuals. “School trips have already been suspended by previous decisions,” Hadjipantelas said.

Reservist duty in the army has been suspended from Monday until February 28, 2022.

The minister said the new measures were aimed at preventing possible deterioration of the epidemiological situation due to the emergence of the Omicron variant.

Though, he said, around 10,000 people received their first dose of a vaccine in the past 10 days, and around 70,000 have so far got their booster jab, which was encouraging, “last Friday, the whole planet was put on alert […] after the emergence of the Omicron mutation.”

“It is our duty as the health ministry and as the government, to respond to these developments, by taking additional measures to protect public health and vulnerable groups,” Hadjipantelas said.

Earlier, it was announced that, from Monday all passengers aged 12 and over arriving in the Republic by plane or ship will have to undergo a PCR test, regardless of whether they are vaccinated or not or have a Covid-19 recovery certificate.

Cabinet approved a proposal by Transport Minister Yiannis Karousos on mandatory PCR tests by all persons aged 12 and over upon arrival in the Republic of Cyprus, by air or by sea, regardless of the country of departure. The cost of the test, €15, will be paid by the passengers. This measure will be in place until January 10 when it will be reviewed based on the epidemiological situation. People will have to self-isolate either at home of their hotel until the results are out.

Passengers entering the Republic from ports for a short visit must have a negative PCR certificate not older than 72 hours. In addition, upon arrival, they will be required to undergo a rapid antigen test, at the expense of the Republic of Cyprus.

Presenting the proposal, Karousos pointed out the need for temporary measures at the entry points of the Republic, due to the detection of the new Omicron mutation which has been recorded in some African and European countries.

https://cyprus-mail.com/2021/12/02/coronavirus-pcr-tests-for-all-passengers-to-cyprus/

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Dave
Moira And Dave

“I know that you believe you understand what you think I said, but I'm not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant.”

They should have been checking all arrivals since the beginning of the pandemic

Each day we see numbers of covid positive people arriving into Cyprus out of only a small amount of flights and people tested....so how many each day arriving that have not been tested are covid positive and spreading covid everywhere?

We will never be rid of the covid virus in Cyprus until everyone .....vaccinated or unvaccinated is tested on arrival!

Given that everyone is tested before they get on the plane bringing them here, it seems superfluous to have another test a few hours later. As for getting rid if COVID, that's not going to happen. It is here now forever, like the common cold, which is a similar corona virus and used by AZ as the base component of their vaccine.

The vaccines don't kill the virus, prevent you from being infected nor stop you from spreading it. They aid the body's ability to fight the virus infection and reduce the possibility of serious infection or death. As vaccinated people, for the most part, don't have to be tested, they are more likely to be the ones spreading it, than those who have been tested and found to be negative.

We are going to have to live with this virus and the government is going to have to stop flapping every time there is another variant.

19 people tested positive for covid arriving into Cyprus out of 4185 samples taken at Cyprus airports in one day!

So are all passengers being tested before they get onto their flights?
As they are being found to be arriving with the virus!

Until this virus turns into the common cold ....I am happy that Cyprus is to test everyone now vaccinated or unvaccinated arriving into Cyprus

https://cyprus-mail.com/2021/12/01/coro ... wednesday/

If only that were true. As a fully vaccinated resident of Cyprus I can confirm that no testing has been required at either end for quite some time now. A few days ago I came back from a long weekend in Athens and, once again, no testing required either on the way out or on the way back.

I actually elected to have myself tested before and after, just for my own peace of mind.