Filenews 8 January 2021
Stricter measures to halt the Coronavirus pandemic were approved today by the Council of Ministers. The aim of the measures, which will have a period of validity of three weeks, is to decongest the health system at a marginal point and to prevent the transmission of the virus.
Ministers and members of the Inter-ministerial Committee have prepared concrete proposals to support workers, businesses and the economy in general, with a view to the general lockdown. The Government's primary concern is to present the best possible plans, in the context of the economy's strengths, in order to support workers and businesses.
The announcement of the new measures by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Health
In general and indicatively, the new measures provide for the following:
Applies from 5am 10 January until 31 January.
- Curfew from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. .
- Prohibition of gatherings, public or social events (regardless of private or public, domestic or external space).
- Prohibition of gatherings in outdoor public places, such as squares, dams, excursion areas, marinas, etc., except for physical sports purposes in parks, linear parks and beaches, provided that they do not exceed two people.
- Text-only travel up to two text messages per day per person. The reasons for the travel will be given in detail immediately at the conclusion of the conference.
- Compulsory teleworking in the public and wider public sector and local government with the exception of Essential Services, which are included in the Decree to be issued later in the day.
- The Holy Mass in the holy temples/places of religious worship is held without the presence of believers. Believers may only come to the premises for individual prayer, in order to ensure compliance with the health protocols. Religious ceremonies weddings/baptisms/funerals are held with a maximum of 10 people.
- Undertakings which do not suspend their operations include, inter alia, construction sites and construction-related enterprises/sectors, manufacturing sectors, beverage and food retailers and other retail enterprises to be determined by the Ministry of Labour.
- Private enterprises/services that remain in operation are promoted teleworking, with arrangement for simultaneous physical presence of 15% of their staff, with a maximum number of employees who can be physically present at 20 people per professional premises.
- Companies suspending their operations include, inter alia: barbershops and hairdressers, beauty salons, tattoo centres, theatres, cinemas, theatres, theatres, outdoor and open amphitheatres, dining and entertainment venues, shopping centres, department stores, playgrounds, gyms, dance schools, other relevant schools.
- Education at all levels will be done through distance learning, in accordance with the guidelines sent to school units by the Ministry of Education.
- Infants, nurseries and nurseries and pre-primary and special education remain in operation.
- The matches of the professional first division championships are allowed, without the presence of spectators. All other tournaments, as well as the sporting activities of under-18s, are suspended. The Leagues of Categories B and C will be able to train with relevant settings.
The statement of the Minister of Health
I want to wish everyone a happy new year with safety and health, the two precious goods threatened in recent months by the unprecedented pandemic. You all understand the seriousness of the situation and the criticality of the moments. I'm sure you're watching what's happening to the rest of the world. Unlike the first wave of the pandemic, the immediate objective is no longer to reduce cases and eradicate the virus, but to drastically reduce cases and keep the number of people hospitalized at controlled levels in order to breathe life into the Health System.
Since the summer we have maintained several restrictive measures, which have helped us to control the spread of the virus and prepare for this new wave. We have also taken additional local measures, as well as targeted measures, in an effort to limit the spread of the virus and protect our vulnerable fellow human beings.
Unfortunately, the result shows that not all measures have been put to the desired point for many reasons. For months now, a superhuman effort has been made, day and night, under very difficult circumstances. Thanks to this effort, Cyprus was able to buy time to guard the Health System, which we reinforced with staff, infrastructure and consumables. However, as we have said many times, all of this has a limit. We are already on the red line and drastic measures are needed not to live what we want, that is to say to see people die helplessly, because we do not have beds available. We never want to experience this, we will not allow it to happen and we will do everything we can to prevent it.
I won't bore you with statistics and numbers. After hearing the recommendations of the Scientific Advisory Committee, the Council of Ministers, as part of efforts to curb the outbreak of the pandemic, decided to implement stricter measures to limit confusion and travel. The new measures will take effect from Sunday, January 10, 2020, at 5 a.m. and until 31 January at midnight. In fact, over the next three weeks, we're going to have to stay in our homes, in our shelter, to stem the spread of the virus. The effort aims at drastically limiting social and professional gatherings in homes and workplaces, because that is where most cases are detected.
In addition to the above measures, our strategy provides for even more diagnostic tests to get a fuller picture of the epidemiological situation in the community. At the same time, in addition to the rapid testing population control programme, additional targeted control is being launched in private enterprises and in the public and wider public sectors that remain in operation.
Within these three weeks and the time that follows, we will continue the vaccination program as planned to cover vulnerable groups of the population. As you know, two vaccines have been authorised so far out of the six agreements concluded by the European Commission and, by extension, Cyprus. Even with the authorisation of the remaining vaccines, the rate of vaccination is de facto slow. However, the aim is to vaccinate a vital part of the population, frontline professionals and our fellow human beings in the high-risk category, in order to allow us to treat the coronavirus more confidently and effectively. But until we see the desired results from vaccination, we must not rest, since the immunity of people who are now vaccinated will have visible results in February.
The second wave of the pandemic is much faster than the first, which scientists attribute to the new strain of the virus, which was also detected in Cyprus. Rapid spread of the virus multiplies cases, resulting in an increase in cases requiring hospitalization. The increase in nurses and especially those in need of specialist care in an Intensive Care Unit is the crucial indicator that determines the decisions of all Governments, in all countries plagued by the health crisis. The measures we are taking today aim to reduce this indicator to safe levels in order to be able to offer quality health services to those who need them. Prohibition measures are not an end in itus. We have exhausted all the room until we reach the restrictions we are announcing today, but the options, unfortunately, are not many.
From the outset, the Government has set itself the objective of preserving the supreme good of public health and of reducing the losses of our fellow human beings as a result of the disease. With this in mind we have taken these decisions in order to avoid this nightmare that we have seen them experience in other countries. One way for all of us to keep trying, to support health professionals, to breathe life into the Health System, to guard our fellow human beings at risk, to protect our loved ones.
Let us not lose all these sacrifices that have been made since the beginning of this pandemic until today. Let's gather our strength to defeat this test as well.
Source: eyenews
