Monday, June 21, 2021

UPDATED COUNTRY CATEGORISATION - wef 24 June

 Filenews 21 June 2021



Following a decision of the Council of Ministers of 18 February 2021 on the Action Plan for the gradual resumption of flights and the reopening of airports, the Epidemiological Surveillance Unit of the Ministry of Health re-evaluated the epidemiological picture of the various countries with regard to COVID-19 disease.

The classification for the countries of the European Union and the European Economic Area (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway) including Switzerland in categories Green, Orange or Red is based on that of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).

With regard to third countries (United Kingdom, Russia, Ukraine, Israel, Lebanon, United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Belarus, Qatar, Serbia, United States of America, Armenia, Georgia, Bahrain), in addition to 1/6/21 Kuwait and Canada as well as those included in the updated list of the European Council Recommendation (EU) 2021/89, on the phasing out of temporary restrictions on non-essential travel to the EU, are epidemiologically assessed by the Ministry of Health and classified in Green, Orange and Red.

In today's categorization, the following apply:

  1. The following countries are classified from Orange to Green Category:
  • Austria
  • Bulgaria
  • Czech Republic
  • Hungary
  • Germany
  • Italy
  • Finland
  • Slovakia
  • Norway
  1. The following countries are classified from Red to Orange Category:
  • Belgium
  • Denmark
  • Estonia
  • France
  • Greece
  • Croatia
  • Latvia
  • Lithuania
  • Slovenia
  • Sweden

In addition, it is noted that the EU Safe Countries List (Annex 1 to Recommendation 2020/912) has been amended with the addition of Taiwan, the USA, Northern Macedonia, Serbia, Albania and Lebanon and the lifting of the reciprocity requirement for Hong Kong and Macao.

The countries added to the countries from which non-essential travel to the Republic of Cyprus is permitted are the following:

  • Taiwan is ranked in the Red Division
  • Northern Macedonia is ranked in the Red Division
  • Albania is ranked in the Red Division

The other countries (USA, Serbia, Lebanon) are already included in the categorization of the Republic of Cyprus in the Orange Category (USA) and the Red Category (Serbia, Lebanon).

The following categorization of countries, based on the epidemiological risk assessment, is extremely dynamic and can be differentiated at any time, as the pandemic evolves and epidemiological data change. To this end, new data will be announced and the list of countries will be updated frequently.

Detailed what is true

Green Countries – Low-risk countries at this stage

  • Member States of the European Union: 1) Malta, 2) Poland, 3) Romania, 4) Austria, 5) Bulgaria, 6) Czech Republic, 7) Hungary, 8) Germany, 9) Italy, 10) Finland, 11) Slovakia
  • Members of the Schengen Zone: 1) Iceland, 2) Norway
  • Third Countries: 1) Australia, 2) New Zealand, 3) Singapore, 4) Saudi Arabia, 5) South Korea, 6) Israel

It should be noted that passengers from Green Class countries do not require the presentation of a COVID-19 laboratory test certificate, nor does it require self-limit.

Orange Countries –Countries with a potentially low risk but with more doubt compared to the Green Category

  • Member States of the European Union: 1) Portugal, 2) Ireland, 3) Luxembourg, 4) Belgium, 5) Denmark, 6) Estonia, 7) France, 8) Greece, 9) Croatia, 10) Latvia, 11) Lithuania, 12) Slovenia, 13) Sweden
  • Third Countries: 1) China (including Hong Kong and Macau), 2) United Kingdom, 3) United States of America, 4) Japan

It is noted that passengers from the Orange category countries are required to have carried out a PCR laboratory test within 72 hours prior to departure and to have a certificate proving a negative PCR test for the virus.

It should be clarified, at the same time, that passengers from Countries of the Orange Category falling into the following categories may carry out the molecular examination on arrival in the Republic:

  1. Cypriot citizens and members of their families (their foreign spouses, and their minor children),
  2. Legal persons residing in the Republic,
  3. Persons entitled to enter the Republic in accordance with the Vienna Convention, and
  4. Persons regardless of nationality, where documented and following a communication from the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Cyprus, the authorities of the country (Orange Category) residing, do not provide a laboratory analysis service.

It is noted that the cost of the examination is covered by them and in addition these persons should remain under house arrest until the result is published.

Red countries – Countries of increased risk compared to the countries of the Green and Orange Categories

  • Member States of the European Union: 1) Spain, 2) Netherlands
  • Small States: 1) Andorra, 2) Monaco, 3) Vatican City, 4) San Marino
  • Members of the Schengen Zone: 1) Switzerland, 2) Liechtenstein
  • Third Countries: 1) Rwanda 2) Russia, 3) United Arab Emirates, 4) Ukraine, 5) Jordan, 6) Lebanon, 7) Egypt, 8) Belarus, 9) Qatar, 10) Serbia, 11) Thailand, 12) Armenia, 13) Georgia, 14) Bahrain, 15) Kuwait, 16) Canada, 17) Taiwan, 18) Albania, 19) North Macedonia

It should be noted that passengers from the Red Class countries are required to: (a) have carried out a laboratory check within 72 hours prior to their departure and have a certificate proving a negative PCR test for the virus and (b) carry out a laboratory test on arrival in the Republic of Cyprus.

It is noted that the cost of the examinations is covered by them and in addition these persons should remain under house arrest until the result is published.

The following categories may enter the Republic of Cyprus from Red Class countries having carried out, at their own expense, laboratory testing only upon arrival in the Republic of Cyprus:

  1. Cypriot citizens and members of their families (their foreign spouses and their minor children),
  2. Legal persons residing in the Republic, and
  3. Persons entitled to enter the Republic in accordance with the Vienna Convention.

In such a case, the persons referred to in points 1-3 above shall remain in a mandatory self-limit regime for 72 hours after arrival and after the end of 72 hours shall be re-examined for a molecular examination (PCR) at their own expense. If the result of the retest is negative, they are released from self-limit. The result of the examination shall be sent to the E-monada@mphs.moh.gov.cy.

Grey Category Countries (Special License ):

Countries not mentioned above in the Categories Green, Orange and Red are considered to be included in the Grey category (Special Permit). For Grey Class countries, entry to the Republic of Cyprus is permitted only in the following categories of passengers:

  1. Cypriot citizens and members of their families (their foreign spouses and their minor children),
  2. European citizens, citizens of the European Economic Area (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway) and Switzerland,
  3. Legal persons residing in the Republic,
  4. Persons entitled to enter the Republic in accordance with the Vienna Convention, and
  5. Persons of nationality of third States who are entitled to enter the Republic of Cyprus, after special permission from the Republic of Cyprus as defined by the Infectious Disease (Determination of Measures to Prevent the Spread of coronavirus COVID-19) Decree (No. 9) of 2021, as amended.

It is noted that passengers from the countries of this category should have carried out a laboratory test by a recognised laboratory, with sampling carried out during the last 72 hours prior to their journey to the Republic of Cyprus and having a certificate proving a negative PCR for COVID-19. With the exception of category 2, other persons may, if they wish to do so, carry out the laboratory test on arrival in the Republic of Cyprus by paying the cost of the laboratory test themselves.

Passengers arriving in the Republic of Cyprus from Grey Category (Special Permission) countries remain in a mandatory self-contained or mandatory isolation (quarantine) regime of fourteen (14) days or alternatively seven (7) days of mandatory self-confinement or quarantine if they are re-examined for COVID-19 disease (at their own expense) on the 7th day and have a negative laboratory result. The result of the laboratory examination will be sent to the e-monada@mphs.moh.gov.cy.

It is noted that the above categorization of countries will take effect from 24 June 2021.

Conditions for vaccinated passengers:

The Ministry of Health specifies the following rules that apply from 10 May for vaccinated passengers arriving in the Republic of Cyprus from the entrance gates:

Persons regardless of nationality who hold a valid vaccination certificate for COVID-19 disease and who arrived in Cyprus from abroad, regardless of the country of departure, will be exempted, for entry purposes, from the obligation to carry out laboratory tests, as well as from the obligation to self-restrict/quarantine, provided that the following conditions are met:

  1. They hold a valid vaccination certificate from the following States:
    1. Member States of the European Union (including Cyprus),
    2. States of the European Economic Area (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway),
    3. Switzerland,
    4. Israel,
    5. United Kingdom,
    6. Russia,
    7. United Arab Emirates,
    8. Saudi Arabia,
    9. Ukraine,
    10. Jordan,
    11. Lebanon,
    12. Egypt,
    13. Belarus,
    14. Serbia,
    15. Qatar,
    16. Bahrain,
    17. United States of America,
    18. Armenia,
    19. Georgia,
    20. Canada, and
    21. Kuwait.
  2. They have been vaccinated either with one of the approved vaccines of the European Medicines Agency (Pfizer/BioNTech, AstraZeneca, Moderna, Janssen), or with the Sputnik V vaccine, or with the Sinopharm vaccine (BBIBP COVID-19) with effect from 21 May and have completed the vaccination scheme . It is noted that in cases of two-dose vaccines the person should have been vaccinated with both doses, while in the case of Janssen vaccine (single dose vaccine) 14 days should have passed between the administration of the vaccine dose and the date of travel. More information is available at the https://cyprusflightpass.gov.cy/en/vaccinated-passengers.

It is stressed that all passengers, regardless of country category, including persons holding a valid vaccination certificate must submit an application to CyprusFlightPass within 48 hours prior to the departure of their flight. In addition, for the purpose of ensuring public health and supervising the epidemiological picture, the Ministry of Health may carry out covid-19 laboratory molecular testing on passengers (including persons holding a vaccination certificate) of selected flights.

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