As per latest press release of the Minister of Health, Here in Greek, the following complementary measures are effective as of Midnight tonight.
- It becomes mandatory for the general population to use a mask in closed crowded places (e.g. shopping malls, banks, supermarkets, hospitals, churches, etc.) with a penalty of € 300.
- Sampling checks at airports are increasing from 600 per day to 1,000, with an emphasis on Cypriots returning from leisure travel (holidays), as it has become clear that a large percentage of cases come from Cypriots with a travel history.
- Strict adherence to visits and, if possible, their minimization are recommended in hospitals, private and public, and in nursing homes.
- Restriction of occupancy limit to 50% on Public Transport (buses) Is reinstated.
- The control by the Police is intensified for the people who have to put themselves in self-quarantine when arriving from Category C countries, or when they are close contact cases. In consultation with the competent authorities, a compliance check will be performed daily on these individuals.
- Controls and surveillance by the competent authorities will be intensified in businesses, restaurants and other premises with explicit instructions for zero tolerance.
In addition to the above, specifically with regards to Limassol and after the latest developments, in the effort to reduce the outbreaks and dismantle the transmission chains that were identified, it was decided that the following measures will take effect from today:
- Reintroduction of the restriction of the maximum number of 10 people in social gatherings.
- Limit of the maximum number of people in restaurants to 75 people indoors and 150 people outdoors, regardless of square footage.
- In churches, the presence of people is determined on the basis of square meters depending on the protocol, which regardless of this will not exceed 75 people.
ALL THE ABOVE MEASURES REGARDING LIMASSOL WILL BE VALID FOR THREE WEEKS.
As per Minister:
- “We all need to be more diligent in matters of personal protection, more careful in our movements and more suspicious of the disease and contact our Personal Physician if we show symptoms”
- “We knew from the beginning that the management of the pandemic was a marathon, which will end when it becomes possible to vaccinate the population. We have covered a lot of road, but we did not reach the finish line. The virus will be with us for a long time and we must learn to live with it, affecting our daily lives.”
- “As the scenario unfolds, the complete reopening of some companies or sectors and the lifting of all restrictions is not foreseen in the near future. Especially for mass gatherings, we are very strict and strictly follow the guidelines of the ECDC, which does not recommend at this stage the organization of such events. As has been shown in practice, the detection of cases in events that bring together a very large number of citizens, makes tracking impossible and, therefore, dramatically increases the risk of spreading the virus in the community.”