COVID-19 pandemic in Cyprus

On 12 January 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed that a novel coronavirus was the cause of a respiratory illness in a cluster of people in Wuhan, China, which was reported to the WHO on 31 December 2019.[1][2] The case fatality ratio for COVID-19 has been much lower than SARS of 2003,[3][4] but the transmission has been significantly greater, with a significant total death toll.[3][5]

Health minister Constantinos Ioannou said that Cyprus would not lift entry restrictions on its largest tourism markets like Russia and the United Kingdom unless it were safe to do, despite pressure from local businesses, because these countries have some of the highest rates of the virus in the world. Ioannou said that it would not be possible to implement mass testing to screen all passengers from high-risk countries upon their arrival in Cyprus because quarantine facilities and hospitals would not be able to accommodate the expected number of infected people. By late July, Cyprus had reported that most of the new cases on the island had come from travelers. The current estimates for August tourist arrivals is 18% of the previous year's arrivals, but some local businesses believe that even these estimates are optimistic due to uncertainty over lifting restrictions on arrivals from the UK.[57]

To determine whether arrivals from certain countries would be quarantined or otherwise restricted upon entry to Cyprus, the country assessed the Schengen Area and other countries based on factors such as the number of new diagnoses and mortality rates per 100,000 inhabitants. The Category A countries were considered low risk; arrivals from Category A countries, including some non-European countries like Canada, Japan, and South Korea, did not have any restrictions placed on their entry. Category B countries were considered less certain than Category A and included France, Italy, and Spain. Passengers arriving from Category B countries were required to undergo a health examination upon arrival and self-quarantine until the results returned. The Category B restrictions also applied to citizens and permanent residents of Cyprus. Category C countries were considered an increased risk and entry was restricted unless certain conditions were met; arrivals could take a COVID-19 test upon arrival or present an RT-PCR certificate, which would prove negative test results within the 72 hours before their arrival.[39]

• COVID-19 pandemic in Northern Cyprus
• COVID-19 pandemic by country and territory
• COVID-19 pandemic in Europe