Belgium’s decision to place Cyprus along with the UK on its orange list, or Category B, for coronavirus-related travel restrictions has baffled experts who have urged an immediate correction.
The Health Minister Constantinos Ioannou has also expressed surprise.
“I am wondering with what criteria and which data was used,” Ioannou said on Thursday. “Obviously some mistake may have happened from their specialists in Belgium.”
Two experts – Leontios Kostrikkis and Petros Karayiannis – who are on the scientific committee advising the government on the coronavirus pandemic said they could not understand why Belgium should have placed Cyprus anywhere other than in the safest nations list.
“The only explanation I can give is that for some strange reason they categorised within the Republic the north as well, where they are accepting flights from Turkey, and Turkey is persona non grata for the European Union,” Kostrikkis said on Thursday.
Belgium operates a familiar system, of three categories, but it instead denotes countries as Green, Orange and Red categories instead of A, B and C.
Yves Van Laethem, Belgium’s federal Covid-19 taskforce representative, told French media that the lists displayed are “not up to date” and will take 24 to 36 hours to be renewed.
He added that there is the possibility of new outbreaks of the virus and that the risk of holidaymakers returning without taking precautions is a concern.
It remains unclear, however, how Cyprus was put into the orange category in any case – even if the list is outdated.
Kostrikkis said that any misunderstanding over the north should in no way impact the Republic of Cyprus.
“Cyprus is one of the best countries in Europe at this moment in epidemiological terms, there is no case for it not to be,” he said.
An official at the Belgian embassy in Greece (which assists the consulate in Cyprus) could not confirm that Cyprus is in the orange category. The official told the Cyprus Mail that further information is expected soon but the Belgian foreign affairs website lists Cyprus in the orange category, along with the United Kingdom and Greece.
This means that travel is allowed but subject to quarantine and other measures.
Notably, Sweden and Italy are placed above Cyprus and are in the green category.
On the issue of flights from Turkey to the north, Kostrikkis explained that it is manageable for the Republic – as anyone crossing at the checkpoint must have taken a PCR test.
“The reason we have been placed in the orange category is due to the north. I can think of no other explanation because epidemiologically Cyprus is in an excellent position with no cause for concern,” Kostrikkis said.
Karayiannis said he believed a bit of ‘tit-for-tat’ was at play. “Because we placed Belgium in Category B they acted in reciprocity which is inexcusable if someone is basing their decisions on epidemiological criteria.”
Finland, Ireland, Malta and Norway are in the red – or C – category and therefore travel is not currently allowed.
