Filenews 17 November 2021
Following a decision of the Council of Ministers to carry out SafePass holding checks through the CovScan Cyprus application, the Ministry of Health recalls that the use of the application becomes mandatory from Monday, November 22nd onwards.
Through the application, the validity of the European Digital Certificate (EUDCC) is quickly and safely certified for SafePass purposes. Therefore, citizens will have until 22 November to issue the European Digital Certificate through the website https://www.eudcc.gov.cy/.
The EUDCC may be presented in digital form on a mobile phone (smartphone) or in paper form, provided that the QR code is displayed on it. As far as the issuance of a vaccination or recovery certificate is concerned, it is issued once, whereas in the case of a negative test result certificate, the procedure is repeated each time a new test is carried out.
In premises/businesses where more than 10 people can be accommodated and SafePass is required, the owners/managers or their authorized employees must, by November 22nd, ensure the application to carry out the checks. The app can be installed on any device using Android software and is available for free through Google Play. Instructions for use on how the application works can be found in the link: https://wiki.eudcc.gov.cy/COVSCAN_Android_EL.pdf.
It is clarified that in the case of shopping centres or department stores, where more than one business is housed, the control is done at the entrance of the shopping centre / department store and does not require re-inspection by the businesses within them.
From the digital control of the QR code, at this stage, citizens who fall into the following groups and who may, if they wish, present SafePass in another form are excluded (see below):
- People aged 65 years and over,
- People aged 18 years and under,
- Turkish Cypriot citizens who have been vaccinated in areas of the Republic of Cyprus, where the Government does not exercise effective control,
- Tourists (i.e. people who are not permanently resident in the Republic and enter the Republic legally) who have been vaccinated in countries other than those of the European Union, the European Economic Area (Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein) or Switzerland, and
- Permanent/legal residents of Cyprus who have been vaccinated in countries other than those of the European Union, the European Economic Area (Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein) or Switzerland.
It is emphasized that people who fall under the above categories will be checked for SafePass possession and must present a certificate proving that they meet one of the requirements of SafePass (vaccination card or certificate of recovery from COVID-19 in printed form or text message or certificate of negative result from PCR test or rapid antigen test in printed form or text message).
It is reminded that the check through the application is done by scanning the QR code indicated on the certificate (in printed or electronic form) and presents the following results of a validity check:
- Green: The certificate is valid and means that its holder has completed his vaccination regimen or is ill with COVID-19.
- Blue: The certificate is valid and means that its holder has undergone a PCR test with a negative result,
- Yellow/Orange: The certificate is valid and means that its holder has undergone a rapid antigen test with a negative result.
- Red: The certificate is invalid.
More information about the CovScan Cyprus application is available at the link: https://bit.ly/31UGJtp.
