Cyprus Mail 16 March 2020 - article by Bejay Browne
Victoria and James Hughes
Cyprus residents are in a near impossible scramble to secure health certificates to ensure their entry when they return.
As from 6pm on Monday entry to Cyprus is only permitted to citizens and legal residents who present a recent health certificate from an approved accredited organisation and/or a laboratory from their country of origin. The medical certificate must not be older than four days.
This requirement, announced on Sunday, was a further tightening of the entry regulations which were announced last Friday.
Paphos residents Victoria and James Hughes are currently holidaying in Kenya are facing serious problems trying to obtain a medical certificate to enable them to return home.
“Kenya doesn’t have enough coronavirus testing kits and are only testing children and the seriously sick,” Victoria Hughes said, speaking to the Cyprus Mail from Kenya.
Hughes said that the Cyprus government must realise that travellers are not able to ‘just walk in to a medical centre and get tested.’
“There are just not enough kits in many countries. We are obviously very aware this is very serious world wide problem, but we just want to get home safe and sound. We are happy to self-isolate and follow the rules, it’s just that this was all so sudden.”
The couple contacted a Paphos travel agency who have now rebooked them on a flight to the UK on Wednesday, where they will stay with family until they can get tested.
Cruise ships that should have disembarked in Limassol are now cruising on to the UK. Many on board live in Cyprus and are despairing in the knowledge they face further problem before they can return home.
A popular Paphos travel agency alone is currently bringing around 100 Cyprus residents home who have found themselves stranded on all sorts of holidays including cruise ships.
“This is an ever changing situation and we have been working on it since mid January,as it all started in Asia and we had clients there or booked to go there,” Daniel Essex of Century Travel said.
Clients are facing a raft of restrictions and problems, cruise ships are diverted and the team of eight staff are working round the clock to bring people home, he said.
The travel agency work closely with Acta, and as a priority are trying to aid residents to get back home to Cyprus and also provide care, advice and as much assistance as they can to their clients, he said.
“We are working on a priority basis chronologically and will continue this going forward. We are providing immediate help too those in a situation now, or travelling in the next 7 days. The situation is suddenly changing though, and a number of airlines are suspending flights, including Cyprus Airways.”
A number of would be travellers trying to return to Cyprus,are also posting on about their problematic situations on social media , with many unable to access facilities to obtain a now pre- requisite coronavirus test certificate.
Some are aghast that some laboratories listed by the government as approved facilities have no idea why they are on the list, as they don’t carry out coronavirus tests.
“The recommended laboratory does not test for coronavirus and we were also told that no-one in Belgium will test people unless they have severe symptoms due to shortage of test kits,” posted one desperate, stranded family.
Another traveller, in his 70s, who said he has run out of money noted that the couple were informed by the Cyprus government that no money will be given to people who are stuck.
“Why should we be kept out of our country, it’s our home and what are we expected to do? It’s like a living hell, we just want to go home,” he said.
