Transport Minister: Flight ban to apply to all countries

Transport Minister Yiannis Karousos on Wednesday rectified previous statements over a flight ban to be imposed on 28 countries as of Saturday, stressing that the ban will be universal.

In a tweet on Wednesday Karousos said that “As of 21/03 a ban on flights towards airports of the Republic of Cyprus will be in force.”

He added that “A decree will follow according to which no country will be excluded, as the ban will be universal.”

The comment came to rectify statements issued by the Health Minister Constantinos Ioannou on Tuesday night after an inter-ministerial meeting at the Presidential Palace chaired by President Nicos Anastasiades.

Ioannou had said that the two-week flight ban coming into force on Saturday would only affect 28 countries.

From Karousos’ tweet, it is understood that Ioannou’s comment that flights carrying cargo will be excluded from the ban still stands.

The move comes as Cyprus steadily steps up measures to contain the coronavirus outbreak which continues to unfold on the island.

On Wednesday, confirmed coronavirus cases in the Republic of Cyprus were at 49, while the figure had risen to 20 in the north and cases in the British Bases remained stable at two.