On the basis of the decision of the Council of Ministers of 21 December 2021, as announced here in English, the period of validity of the Certificate of Recovery is reduced from 180 days to 90 days. This change will apply as of 31 January 2022 to all holders of the Certificate, regardless of whether they have issued it before that date.
It is clarified that these certificates will continue to be issued via the platform www.eudcc.gov.cy and the date of entry into force of the certificate will be the date of release of the individual. It will be valid for use in Cyprus, for up to 90 days from the date of the first positive laboratory test result, as specified in the relevant decree.
It is noted that the validity for 180 days from the date of the first positive laboratory test result will continue to be issued on the Certificate of Recovery, as it is the maximum period allowed by the relevant European Regulation and can therefore be used by citizens for travel purposes. It is noted that in case of travel, the passenger should consult the website or Re-open EU application (reopen.europa.eu) or the national authorities of the country of arrival in order to be informed of the acceptable validity of the certificate, which is likely to be 180 days or less, in other countries.
In addition, the Ministry of Health announced that distribution of free of charge self-tests for COVID-19 continues in pharmacies (here in English).
The distribution of the 1st package of free of charge self-tests from pharmacies continues, and citizens can receive it until 24 January 2022, while the 2nd package will be available from 25 January 2022.
Beneficiaries are citizens who have completed their vaccination scheme with two doses for the two-dose vaccine and one dose for the single-dose vaccine or have received the booster/3rd dose of vaccine and are also beneficiaries of the GHS.
a) Beneficiaries of the GHS can obtain the self-tests from the pharmacies which are contracted with the GHS, upon presentation of proof of identification.
- The package includes five self-tests and citizens will have the opportunity to carry out the examination on their own initiative, to see if they are positive to the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2.
- In case of a positive result, citizens must contact their Personal Doctor to refer them for a PCR test at a Public Health Centre in the district of their residence.
b) Citizens who are not beneficiaries of the GHS, but who have completed their vaccination scheme in Cyprus, or have completed their vaccination scheme in another European country and are beneficiaries of the GHS, can pick up the package containing the five self-tests from the following points:
|
District |
Location |
Address |
|
Lefkosia Daily from 10:30 until 13:00 |
Lefkosia Old Hospital |
Nechru Avenue, Agios Andreas, Postal Code 1102, Lefkosia |
|
Lemesos Daily from 12 n. until 13:00 |
Maternity Centre, Lemesos Old Hospital |
Leontiou A’ 188, Postal Code 3022, Lemesos |
|
Larnaka Daily from 10:30 until 13:00 |
Maternity Centre, Larnaka Old Hospital |
Grigori Afxentiou Avenue 40, Postal Code 6021, Larnaka |
|
Pafos Daily from 10:30 until 13:00 |
Maternity Centre, Pafos General Hospital |
Achepans 8026, Postal Code 8100, Pafos |
|
Ammochostos Daily from 10:30 until 13:00 |
Maternity Centre, Ammochostos Health Centre |
Christou Kkeli 25, Postal Code 5310, Paralimni |
In case of a positive result, citizens must contact the Centre for Coordination of Public Health Clinics via email: coordination.iatreiadygeias@moh.gov.cy by sending their identification details (name, surname, telephone number, ID number, date of birth and district), as well as a photo of their positive self-test.
c) Instructions on how to carry out the rapid antigen test, can be found at the following link: https://youtu.be/FyP3NDTapUE .