No new coronavirus cases were detected on Sunday, the health ministry said. The number of cases remains at 994. In total 1,059 tests were carried out during the past 24 hours. One patient with Covid-19 is being treated at the coronavirus reference hospital in Famagusta.
The majority of imported COVID-19 cases recorded in Cyprus in the last few weeks were asymptomatic, says Professor Petros Karayiannis, member of the Scientific Advisory Team and Professor of microbiology and molecular virology of the University of Nicosia’s Medical School, Petros Karayiannis. He also said that authorities need to have a detailed picture regarding the itinerary of passengers flying to Cyprus from countries listed as Category C via transit. Asked by CNA about the cases that were detected among passengers and people who were repatriated from Category C countries, as announced by the Ministry of Health on Saturday, Karayiannis said that there was no particular concern. “We need to have a detailed picture about the airports through which they travelled” he said. The professor explained that some passengers may interrupt their journey at an intermediate destination for a short period of time before continuing their journey to Cyprus. Even if they possess a certificate that they are COVID-19 negative, they may catch the virus while in transit, therefore caution is advised, he added. Professor Karayiannis notes that the overall epidemiological situation in Cyprus is very good. “A lot of time passed since the beginning of the pandemic and most [patients] have fully recovered” he said. The remaining cases are people who arrived from abroad during the last 2-3 weeks, he added and said that “the majority of those who have been detected were asymptomatic, thus they were not admitted to the referral hospital.”
The Labour Ministry has launched the online application process for the 4th period of its support schemes addressed to businesses and the unemployed that are financially hit by the Coronavirus outbreak. The five schemes cover the period from June 13 to June 30, 2020, and can be found on the website www.coronavirus.mlsi.gov.cy (in Greek). The five special schemes for the above period are:
Hotels and Tourist Accommodation (Application ΕΕΑ.9)
Businesses associated with the tourism industry or businesses directly affected by tourism or businesses under obligatory full suspension of operations (Applications ΕΕΑ.10 and ΕΕΑ.11)
Special scheme for full suspension of business operations (Application ΕΕΑ.3)
Special scheme for businesses of particular activities (Application ΕΕΑ.13)
Special scheme for the unemployed (Application ΕΕΑ.8)
The Labour Ministry has also published on its Coronavirus website an accountant report template that needs to be submitted electronically together with the relevant business scheme application. It was also noted that all businesses need to submit their IBAN details via the ΕΕΑ.12 form. It was finally emphasised that the unemployed persons who will submit the EEA.8 application should also provide their IBAN details via the ΕΕΑ.6 form in case they have not done so already.
