The health ministry announced three amendments to the list of countries from which Cyprus accepts visitors on Tuesday which mean changes in categories for Greece, Thailand and Morocco. The changes will take effect on Thursday.
Greece will move from category A to B, Thailand from category B to A and Morocco from B to C.
“The categorisation of countries, based on epidemiological risk assessment, is extremely dynamic and can change at any time, as the pandemic evolves and epidemiological data change,” the health ministry explained. “To this end, new data will be announced and the list of countries will be updated frequently.”
According to the latest update, category A, which includes countries deemed safer compared to the rest as regards their epidemiological outlook includes Austria, Germany, Denmark, Estonia, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Hungary, Poland , Slovakia, Slovenia, Finland, Switzerland, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Georgia, Japan, Canada, New Zealand, South Korea and Thailand.
Passengers coming from these countries do not need to test for the coronavirus or self-isolate upon arrival.
In category B, in which are countries with potentially low risk but more precarious than category A are Belgium, France, Greece, Spain, Italy, Croatia, The Netherlands, Czech Republic, United Kingdom, Andorra, Monaco, Vatican City, San Marino, Australia, Rwanda, Tunisia, Uruguay, and China.
Passengers from category B countries are required to present a negative Covid-19 test certificate not older than 72 hours from a recognised laboratory.
Cypriots and their families, permanent residents and people covered by the Vienna Convention can take the test upon their arrival in Cyprus. The same applies for persons regardless of nationality, whose country of residence is not in a position to offer Covid-19 testing to those wishing to travel to the Republic of Cyprus (public or private sector). The last category is eligible for tests in Cyprus only after the Cypriot health ministry issues an announcement.
They have to pay for the cost of the test and should remain isolated until the result is announced.
Countries not listed above are in category C and are deemed at increased risk compared to the other countries.
Among them are Bulgaria, Portugal, Sweden, Luxembourg, Romania, Algeria, Serbia, Morocco and Montenegro.
Entry to Cyprus from category C countries is allowed only to Cypriot citizens permanently residing in the Republic of Cyprus and their family members, permanent residents, people allowed to enter Cyprus under the Vienna Convention and people with special permission. They have to take a test and will have to remain in self-isolation for 14 days whether the result of their Covid-19 test is positive or negative.
All passengers, regardless of the category of the country they are arriving from, are required to apply for CyprusFlightPass (https://cyprusflightpass.gov.cy/ ) within 24 hours of their departure and present this at the passport control when they arrive.
Any passenger may be asked to take a test upon arrival.
