Five new cases of Covid-19 were announced on Monday by the ministry of health’s epidemiology team, from a total of 1,669 tests. This brings the total number of cases on the island to 772 and is the second day in a row that the number of new cases is just a single figure. As part of ongoing tests of 20,000 people working in the private and public sector that come into contact with others, 1,171 tests were evaluated on Monday, of which two were positive. From a total of 236 tests carried out as part of contact tracing on already confirmed cases, two were positive. From two tests carried out by private initiative one was positive. Of 72 tests carried out at the lab of the Nicosia general hospital all were negative, as were 122 carried out on people who have returned from abroad. Similarly, tests carried out on people working at the island’s hospitals and health centres did not show a positive result. As part of the government’s plan to test 20,000 people from April 11 until 4pm on Monday a total of 9,720 tests had been carried out. The total of 772 cases includes ten from the British Bases.
The foreign and transport ministries have organised two flights to this week, which will leave Larnaca airport to repatriate Cypriots and return others to Germany, an announcement said on Monday. On Tuesday, April 21, one flight operated by Cyprus Airways will leave Larnaca and head to Romania, Moldova, and Ukraine to pick up Cypriots stranded there and return them to the island. The cost of the ticket will be €148.73, including taxes. On Wednesday, April 22, another Cyprus Airways flight will leave for Frankfurt, which will cost €198.73 including taxes to return students to Germany so they can take their examinations.
Five swimmers and a jet skier were among 24 people booked for breaking the stay at home decree in Limassol on Easter Monday. Also booked were three people who were visiting a friend at a house. The decree stipulates that only those who legally resident in the home can be there. The owner was also booked. Limassol police also booked a kiosk for selling products not on the list of permitted items for sale. A total of 1674 checks were carried out between 6 am and 6 pm today, including on premises.
Police carried out 3219 checks from 6 pm on Easter Sunday to 6 am on Easter Monday regarding compliance with decrees restricting movement. The same decree also imposes a curfew from 9 pm to 6 am. A total of 119 people were found to be in violation and booked. Police also carried out checks on 930 premises. One was found to be violating decrees to prevent the spread of coronavirus and was booked. Warning that they will show zero tolerance, police have stepped up patrols and checks amid concern that the drop in positive coronavirus cases and the Easter break will lead to violations of the lockdown.
Paphos hoteliers hope to make up lost ground from the coronavirus pandemic in 2022 – 2023, president of the local branch of the Hotel Association Thanos Michaelides told CNA on Monday. He said that some Paphos hoteliers were thinking of opening in July, others later and some not at all. His remarks mirror the results of a survey by EY earlier this month where 25% of participants hoped to resume operations by July 2020, but more than half said they were considering in their options a scenario of either not opening at all or only opening a small number of their units in 2020. In the latter scenario they consider operating at around half of their capacity. Michaelides said that hotels had been closed by decrees to contain the spread of coronavirus and had cancelled all their bookings. Since then cancellations are coming in every day for the summer — from May to October, he added. The situation was very worrying because no one knew when hotels would open.
