Over 1200 Cyprus citizens repatriated last week

With the universal flight ban in place since Saturday, several rescue flights continued to fly in and out of Cyprus through the weekend, with one flight departing for Moscow on Monday afternoon to repatriate Russians stranded on the island following the Covid-19 outbreak.

The Ural Airlines flight to the Russian capital departed from Larnaca airport just after 2pm on Monday.

On Sunday, three rescue flights carrying a total of 332 passengers departed from Larnaca airport, with two headed to Moscow and one to Frankfurt in view of repatriating Russian and German citizens.

Seven more planes departed from Larnaca airport on Saturday, repatriating 711 passengers who had travelled to Cyprus for vacations before the coronavirus pandemic hit the island.

Over 1200 Cypriots repatriated

Between Monday and 3am on Saturday when the universal flight ban came into force, a total of 779 Cyprus citizens who fulfilled the criteria set out by the government managed to fly back to island, all of which were transferred to hotels where they will remain in isolation for two weeks.

An additional 432 Cyprus citizens had arrived on Saturday on flights chartered by the government.

All arrivals have been distributed across 11 hotels that agreed to accommodate returnees for a two-week quarantine. Medical professionals visit the hotels twice weekly.

According to state broadcaster CyBC, two of the arrivals began showing symptoms while in isolation at a hotel, though tests emerged negative for coronavirus.