The authorities of Cyprus announced changes on the list of COVID-19 affected countries in line with the decision of the Council of Ministers, which will take effect on May 20.
Based on Cyprus’ Government announcement, the new changes establish that travellers from Iceland will no longer be subject to testing and the requirement to provide a negative Coronavirus test result or self-isolate as Iceland will move from the orange category to the green one.
On the other hand, travellers from Slovakia will be required to undergo two COVID-19 tests, one before and another after their arrival in Cyprus, as well as stay self-isolated since the country will move from the orange category, where it was positioned on the previous announcement, to the red one.
“The following categorization of countries, based on the epidemiological risk assessment, is extremely dynamic and may be modified at any moment as the pandemic evolves and the epidemiological data changes. For this reason, new data will be announced, and the list of countries will be updated frequently,” the Government’s press release notes.
In accordance with the figures provided by ECDC, Cyprus classifies countries into four different categories, green, orange, red, and grey, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.
The green category, which represents countries with a low risk of Coronavirus infection, currently includes Iceland, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, South Korea and Israel. All arrivals from this category are exempt from all the entry requirements.
In contrast, travellers entering Cyprus from a country placed in the orange category must submit a negative COVID-19 test not older than 72 hours.
The orange category includes the following countries:
European Union Member States: Portugal, Ireland, Finland, Malta
Schengen Area countries: Norway
Third countries: China (including Macau and Hong Kong), the United Kingdom, Thailand
As for the arrivals from countries placed on the red category, Cyprus has imposed stricter entry restrictions. All travellers are required to undergo COVID-19 testing 72 hours before entering Cyprus and a second after they enter the country.
The red category currently includes the following countries:
European Union Member States: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, France, Croatia, Luxembourg, Romania, Spain, Italy, Greece, Netherlands, Hungary, Poland, Denmark, Slovenia, Czechia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Sweden, Germany, Slovakia
Microstates: Andorra, Monaco, Vatican City, San Marino
Schengen Area countries: Switzerland and Liechtenstein
Third countries: Rwanda, Russia, United Arab Emirates, Ukraine, Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt, Belarus, Qatar, Serbia, United States of America, Armenia, Georgia, Bahrain
When it comes to the countries that were not listed in any of the categories above, they are all included in the grey category. ■
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