One new case of coronavirus was recorded on Sunday following five days of zero cases, bringing the total on the island to 986. According to the ministry of health a total of 620 tests were carried out. The positive test was found among the programme to test 10,000 who returned to work in the second two phases of the easing of lockdown. Other tests recorded on Sunday include 131 on repatriates, 54 on private initiative, 22 from contact tracing, 112 at the microbiology lab of the Nicosia general hospital and 246 from the programme to test GPs and vulnerable groups. Until Sunday afternoon only one person was being treated at the reference hospital in Famagusta.
The many people who worked with self-sacrifice drove the successful management of various aspects of the pandemic, Health Minister Constantinos Ioannou said in a written statement on Sunday warning that the health risk has not been permanently eliminated “and for this reason we must all we remain vigilant, because as we have said many times, we do not have the luxury of a setback. “In Cyprus we are proud because as a society and as a state we have adequately protected the health system, we have given priority to vulnerable groups and we have minimised losses,” he added. He also said the cooperation of the vast majority of the population with the decisions of the state contributed greatly to the excellent epidemiological picture, which helped Cyprus be able to take steps out of the tunnel of the pandemic. “This development is the result of an organised effort which started from the time the virus was identified in China. Public health services and epidemiological committee of the ministry of health very quickly put in motion a plan to confront the virus. Valuable collaborators in this effort were the independent scientists the government called upon. He said while the “heroes” of the front line have been thanked, the invisible heroes who each joined the fight also need to be thanked “from the heart”. The minister also thanked ambulance drivers and volunteers. But he stressed the danger has not yet passed “and for this reason we have to be vigilant because, as has been said many times, we cannot afford a setback”.
Movement through the checkpoints was allowed as of Sunday morning, although in Nicosia it was very slow while at least some of those attempting to go north were not allowed in by Turkish Cypriot policemen because their Covid-19 certification was not translated into English. According to the Cyprus News Agency (CNA), by 3pm on Sunday five foreigners had crossed from the north to get flights to leave Cyprus while 39 Turkish Cypriots passed into the Republic. In the opposite direction, 29 Turkish Cypriots went to the north and one Bulgarian.
The owner of a bar in Larnaca has been fined 4,000 euro for breaking regulations introduced to stop the spread of coronavirus. According to the police, the bar on Makenzie beach was found to have 355 people inside instead of the allowed 150 when it was checked by officers as part of routine searches for violations. Overnight police charged 18 other establishments with violating coronavirus laws.
The second phase of the opening of the airports went smoothly on Saturday with 1,304 passengers from category A countries passing through Larnaca airport. As part of this phase and to ensure public health random tests are carried out on passengers. On Saturday 297 tests were taken, a procedure that will continue on Sunday at both Larnaca and Paphos airports. The ministry of health has said that around 300 people a day will be tested.
