THE NEW MEASURES FOR TRAVELLERS - FROM 21 February

 Filenews 15 February 2022

Earlier and specifically from February 21, 2022, the new Action Plan for the smooth conduct of flights and the operation of airports is implemented, following today's decision of the Council of Ministers.

For the transitional period from 21 to 28 February 2022, all passengers arriving at Larnaka and Paphos Airports will be required to undergo a PCR test upon arrival.

In addition, the Council of Ministers decided that the conditions for each category as presented in point C.2. below (passengers who have not been vaccinated or do not hold a valid vaccination or recovery certificate, regardless of nationality) concern persons aged 12 years and over, and not 6 years, as previously announced.

It is recalled that the new Action Plan provides for the following:

A. Categorisation of countries:

As of February 21, 2022, the categorization of states based on their epidemiological risk is differentiated and will include three categories with the following colour code: Green, Red and Grey Category. It is clarified that, according to the new Action Plan, the Green and Orange categories of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) correspond to the Green Category of the Republic of Cyprus, while the categories Red and Deep Red correspond to the Red Category of the Republic of Cyprus.

B. Vaccinated or recovered passengers:

1. Vaccinated or recovered passengers, regardless of nationality and country of departure, are exempted from the obligation to meet the requirements of the respective category (e.g. presentation of a negative result of a laboratory test, obligation for self-isolation / quarantine, issuance of a special permit, etc.), in which the state from which they travel has been categorized. Vaccinated or recovered passengers may enter the Republic of Cyprus, provided that they meet one of the following conditions:
   1. They hold a valid vaccination certificate from the competent authorities of any third country.
   2. They hold a recovery certificate issued by a third state included in the list of third countries that have joined the EU's COVID Digital Certificate System (EUDCC).
   3. They hold a European or equivalent from third countries Digital Covid Vaccination or Recovery Certificate.

1. The vaccination or recovery certificate will be considered acceptable only if all the following conditions apply:
   • It has been issued by the public authorities of the States,
   • The vaccine is one of: Johnson&Johnson/Janssen, AstraZeneca, (Vaxzervia, COVISHIELD, SKBio), Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna, Sputnik V (Gam-COVID-Vac), Sinopharm (BBIBPCOVID-19), Sinovac (CoronaVac), Covaxin, Sputnik Light (only as a booster dose in a basic vaccination regimen) and Novavax Nuvaxovid COVID-19.
   • Passengers 18 years and older: For travel purposes, the passenger must have received the 3rd dose in case of a dosing vaccine or the 2nd dose in case of a single-dose vaccine, one of the above vaccines. Certificates of vaccination of passengers who have received two doses of dosing vaccine or a single-dose vaccine shall be accepted only if a period of 9 months has not elapsed since the date of administration of the 2nd dose in the case of a two dose vaccine or of one dose in the case of a single-dose vaccine, respectively.
   • Passengers 18 years and under: For travel purposes, the passenger is considered to have completed his vaccination regimen if he has received the 2nd dose in case of a two dose vaccine or the one dose in case of a single-dose vaccine.
   • The time frame for travel purposes set by the Ministry of Health and posted on the CyprusFlightPass platform for each vaccine has passed.
   • In the case of a recovery certificate, the date of travel does not exceed 180 days from the first positive result.

C. Passengers who have not been vaccinated or do not hold a valid vaccination or recovery certificate:

1. Passengers who have not been vaccinated or do not hold a valid vaccination or recovery certificate, regardless of nationality, will be able to enter the Republic of Cyprus from any state of departure, only if they meet the requirements (e.g. presentation of a negative result of a laboratory test, obligation to self-quarantine/ quarantine, issuance of a special permit, etc.) of the corresponding category, in which the state from which they are travelling has been categorized.
2. Green Category: Passengers who have not been vaccinated or do not hold a valid vaccination or recovery certificate, aged 12 years and over, who wish to travel to the Republic of Cyprus from a Green Category country are obliged to perform a laboratory PCR test valid for 72 hours prior to departure or a rapid antigen test valid 24 hours before departure.
3. Red Category: Passengers who have not been vaccinated or do not hold a valid vaccination or recovery certificate, aged 12 years and over, who wish to travel to the Republic of Cyprus from a Red Category country are required to:
   • carry out a pcr laboratory test valid for 72 hours prior to departure or a rapid antigen test valid 24 hours before departure, and
   • undergo a PCR diagnostic test upon their arrival at the Airports of the Republic of Cyprus. The cost of the test shall be borne by the passenger.

1. Grey Category (Special Permit): From the countries of the Grey Category (Special Permission), entry into the Republic of Cyprus is allowed only to the following categories of passengers:
   • Cypriot citizens and members of their family (their foreign spouses and minor children).
   • Persons legally residing in the Republic.
   • Persons entitled to enter the Republic in accordance with the Vienna Convention.
   • European citizens, citizens of the European Economic Area (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway) and Switzerland.
   • Persons of nationality of third states, who are entitled to enter the Republic of Cyprus, following a special permit on the electronic platform CyprusFlightPass (https://cyprusflightpass.gov.cy/el/special-permission-request) granted by the Republic of Cyprus, as defined in the applicable Infectious Diseases (Determination of Measures to Prevent the Spread of the COVID-19 Coronavirus) Decree.

Passengers who have not been vaccinated or do not hold a valid vaccination or recovery certificate, aged 12 years and over, who are allowed to travel to the Republic of Cyprus from a country of the Grey Category, are obliged to:

• carry out a pcr laboratory test valid for 72 hours prior to departure or a rapid antigen test valid 24 hours before departure, and
• undergo a PCR diagnostic test upon their arrival at the Airports of the Republic of Cyprus. The cost of the test shall be borne by the passenger, and
• remain in a regime of mandatory self-isolation of 10 days or 7 days provided that they undergo a PCR test on the 7th day with a negative result at their own expense.
• With regard to passengers who have not been vaccinated or do not hold a valid vaccination or recovery certificate and belong to the cases of domestic workers or any other persons who have obtained prior permission to work in the Republic from the competent Ministries and Departments, as well as in the cases of workers in the agricultural/livestock sector, the previous decision of the Council of Ministers regarding the obligation of prepayment and quarantine ceases to apply. in tourist accommodation in the Republic of Cyprus. It is understood, however, that the above conditions of the Grey Category will also apply to these passengers.

It is understood that, in the case of a random check upon arrival, all passengers without exception must comply.

Regarding the categorization of states in the corresponding category of the Electronic Platform CyprusFlightPass, it is stated that:

1. For the Member States of the European Union, the EEA (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway) and Switzerland, their categorisation by the Ministry of Health on the CyprusFlightPass electronic platform will continue to be based on their categorisation by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) in the colour map to be prepared and published on a weekly basis by ECDC.

With regard to the Member States of the European Union, the EEA (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway) and Switzerland that will be included in the grey colour of the colour map, which implies that the ECDC was not given sufficient information by these states and therefore it is not possible to evaluate these states by the ECDC, the Ministry of Health will continue to evaluate these states and will decide to categorise them on the CyprusFlightPass electronic platform.

In any case, the categorisation of these states will be from the green to the red category.

1. For third States included in the updated list of the Council Recommendation of 30.6.2020, as well as for the United Kingdom, Israel, Russia, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Ukraine, Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt, Belarus, Serbia, Qatar, Bahrain, the United States of America, Armenia, Georgia, Canada, Kuwait, China (including Hong Kong and Macau), Oman, the Vatican, Monaco, San Marino and Andorra, the weekly evaluation and categorisation on the electronic platform CyprusFlightPass will continue to be carried out by the Ministry of Health.

In any case, these third states will be categorized by the Ministry of Health, in a similar way to the EU/EEA Member States (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway (European Economic Area) and Switzerland, from Green to Red Category.

1. Third States not included in paragraph 2 shall not be categorized by the Ministry of Health and shall be automatically classified in the Grey Category (Special Permit Category).

The possibility of choosing a laboratory test upon arrival in the Republic of Cyprus for Cypriot citizens, including foreign spouses and their minor children, for all persons legally residing in the Republic and for persons entitled to enter the Republic in accordance with the Vienna Convention, ceases to exist.

It is reminded that all passengers without exception are required to complete the CyprusFlightPass within 48 hours before the start of their trip.