Health Minister consults experts before Friday's measures announcement

The Health Minister consulted the government’s health advisory committee on Thursday for an evaluation of the island’s coronavirus situation before the Cabinet is set to take final decisions on Friday on whether we’ll be moving forwards or backwards.

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The Cabinet’s decisions are to be announced by the Health Minister Constantinos Ioannou at 11:30am on Friday, while a press conference is also scheduled for members of the government’s coronavirus advisory team who will present the data behind the island’s current deteriorating epidemiological situation.

The Cabinet will likely be discussing whether to hold off on relaxing current measures for another week or so or announce even stricter measures, though the first scenario is seeming unlikely given the surge in daily new cases and hospital admissions, which figures show have doubled in a period of just 10 days.

The government’s main headache at the moment is the frustration that is marking food and drink spot owners, who were initially scheduled to open their doors next week.

According to Kathimerini Cyprus, food and drink spot owners recognise the severity of the island’s epidemiological deterioration, but will only accept a small postponement of the reopening of their businesses under certain conditions. Head of the federation of owners of leisure centres (Osyka) Fytos Thrasyvoulou said their demands involve more government support: a suspension of loan instalments, a three-month suspension of Social Security payments, municipalities to collect part of the taxes from companies, and the Deputy Ministry of Tourism to support domestic tourism. Thrasyvoulou stressed that if the government does not announce support measures, entrepreneurs will be forced to take dynamic measures.