Filenews 25 January 2021 - by Marilena Panagi
With scientists and the ministry of health maintaining their reservations and stressing that February should not be considered a month of major relaxations, the Government is now officially entering into the drafting of the draft decisions to be finalised at the Cabinet meeting on Wednesday concerning the process of lifting the measures now in force.
In the morning the President of the Republic will be informed by the Scientific Advisory Committee on epidemiological data, as they have been developed over the last 14 days, and will receive the scientists' suggestions on how, in their view, the de-escalation of measures should be made, in order to avoid a re-outbreak of cases in Cypriot society.
After the meeting with the scientists, Nikos Anastasiades will discuss with his ministers (probably the ministers of health, finance, labour and education), with the aim of shaping the positions of the Government so that on Tuesday the finishing touches can be put before the Council of Ministers for the adoption of a comprehensive plan to de-escalation the restrictions.
Over the weekend, the technocrats of the four ministries involved were preparing the plan that will be put before the President of the Republic today, while for their part the scientists also held another meeting with each other, preparing their own suggestions.
Information from the "F", however, indicates that the members of the Scientific Advisory Committee continue to warn that the epidemiological data of Cyprus remain at critical levels and therefore the process of lifting the measures in force must be progressing very slowly.
Indeed, according to the same information, the EES does not appear to have yet set specific dates for the second or third phase of the relaxations, since several of its members claim that it is still too early for such plans.
This position of the scientists does not seem to disagree with the Ministry of Health, which has also clearly set its "lines" when preparing the de-escalation plan at the technocratic level.
On the substance and as we are informed, it is expected that at tomorrow's meeting at the Presidential, they will put before the President a 'conservative' de-escalation plan, in which they will probably not set an expiry date, despite the fact that information on what will follow after 15 February has begun to come to light since yesterday.
However, the opening of the procedure for the lifting of restrictions should be taken for granted on 1 February and shall include, unless the Government takes different decisions:
• Restarting retail trade, as far as small businesses are concerned, outside shopping centres
• Reopening of salons, barbershops and beauty salons
• Return of primary school pupils to their classrooms
• Extension of the validity of 8998 and the two written per day per person on the move
• Extension of the curfew measure from 9 pm to 5am and all measures relating to gatherings of citizens, whether in homes or elsewhere.
• Small relaxes when it comes to team sports.
With this data, the debate in the next few hours will focus, as everything shows, on shopping malls and whether or not they should reopen (at the level of retail stores), but also on whether they will return to their classrooms, together with the young students of Primary Education, and the students of the 3rd Lyceum. In fact, it is not out of the question that the government's final decisions will be taken at the last minute, and the attitude of the ministers concerned will be of particular importance in taking the decisions concerned.
Condition of mass tests between employees
As a condition for the start of the de-escalation process, the Ministry of Health and scientists have set up a mass examination programme for workers returning to work at the same time, with a strict recommendation to resume checks per company on a weekly basis. Indeed, if the Council of Ministers adopts the relevant design of the Ministry of Health, this procedure will be mandatory for companies that will have to subject a significant proportion of their employees to examination at regular intervals.
24 HOURS ACCOUNT
• Three deaths with the final cause of the crown
• 173 patients in hospitals
• 55 in serious condition
• 35 in ICU and 20 in Increased Care Units
• 130 new cases
At 1.75% the positivity rate
