Cyprus updates risk-based travel list

The Health Ministry on Wednesday published the list of re-categorized countries with which the Republic of Cyprus maintains air connectivity, with the new three-tier risk-based categorization coming into effect on February 19.

The new list saw Thailand downgraded to category B, Rwanda to category C, while Algeria, Morocco, Montenegro, Serbia, Uruguay and Japan were removed from the list entirely.
 
Category A - Low risk countries at this stage

The three countries listed in category A are Australia, New Zealand and Singapore.

Passengers arriving from category A must self-isolate for 72 hours, after which a PCR test must be carried out.

Category B

EU member states in category B are Germany, Greece and Finland, while the Schengen Area members Iceland and Norway were also included. Also in category B are China ((including Hong Kong and Macau), South Korea and Thailand.

Passengers arriving from category B countries are required to get tested for the virus within 72 hours prior to departure and to carry with them proof of a negative result. Upon arrival, these passengers will also be required to self-isolate for 72 hours, after which they must get tested anew.

Cypriot citizens and their family members (their foreign spouses, minor children and parents), legal residents of the Republic, those who do not have access to coronavirus tests in their home country, and those entitled under the Vienna Convention, may get tested upon arrival, rather than having to get checked at the category B country from which they’re arriving.

Category C

Category C includes 23 EU member states: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, = France, Denmark, Estonia, Ireland, Spain, Italy, Croatia, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Hungary, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Czech Republic.

The category also includes the UK and Rwanda, and the small states of Andorra, Monaco, Vatican City, and San Marino.

Schengen Area members also included in category C are Switzerland and Liechtenstein.

Arrivals from these countries must have conducted a PCR coronavirus test within 72 hours from departure. Upon arrival, passengers must self-isolate, and have the option of shouldering the cost of a PCR test on the 10^th day of their isolation or are alternatively released from isolation on the 14^th day.

Under a new decree in force until February 28, passengers arriving from the United Kingdom will have to be tested for coronavirus upon their arrival at Larnaca and Paphos airports. They will then be taken to a designated hotel where they will have to remain in quarantine for seven days at the expense of the state. On the seventh day, they undergo another PCR test and if it is negative, they must self-isolate at home for three additional days (total of 10 days).

All passengers, regardless of country category, are required to apply for CyprusFlightPass within 24 hours of departure. In addition, there will also be random testing on arrival at the island’s airports.