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1771. President: Partial lockdown of airports, schools to remain closed until April 10

President Nicos Anastasiades addressed the nation on Friday night after the week saw cumulative confirmations of coronavirus cases across the divide....

1772. New coronavirus information hotline set up

The Ministry of Health launched a new hotline (1450) on Friday to cater to people seeking information on coronavirus, as recent days saw a widespread misuse of the 1420 call centre that was set up for the reporting of symptoms so that checks may be conducted on suspected cases....

1773. Suspension of all football leagues until end of March

1774. Additional COVID-19 protection measures announced in the north

Turkish Cypriot ministers agreed on several additional coronavirus protection measures on Friday during their third emergency session on the unfolding pandemic....

1775. Confirmed cases continue to rise, total reaches 14

The coronavirus outbreak continued to grow on the island on Friday after four additional coronavirus cases were confirmed, raising the total to 14 in government-controlled areas, while three new cases in the north raised the figure to five....

1776. Cyprus confirms three new coronavirus cases, total hikes to 10

The Republic of Cyprus saw three additional confirmed coronavirus cases on Thursday evening, raising the total to 10. A second COVID-19 case was also confirmed in the north earlier in the day...

1777. Main hospitals partially resume operations, blood banks low

The island’s two main hospitals partially resumed operations on Thursday when coronavirus cases rose to seven after a person who recently returned from the UK tested positive....

1778. Schools to be disinfected while closed

1779. Confirmed coronavirus cases rise to seven

Cyprus recorded a new confirmed case of coronavirus on Thursday, involving a person who had recently returned from the UK....

1780. Spike in coronavirus cases expected, CING Molecular Virology head says

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases will now begin to rise, the head of the Molecular Virology department of the Institute of Neurology and Genetics, Christina Christodoulou, said on Thursday, noting that a constant flow of samples are coming in to be checked from across the island....

1781. Cyprus scrambles as WHO declares pandemic

The World Health Organization has classified the COVID-19 outbreak as a pandemic, calling for “urgent and aggressive action” after the coronavirus spread in 114 including Cyprus and Turkey while Greece reported its first fatality...

1782. Officials search for infected taxicab passenger

State authorities in the Republic of Cyprus are on full alert after four more coronavirus cases were confirmed on Wednesday, with health officials scrambling to track down passengers of a taxicab driver who tested positive...

1783. All schools islandwide to close their doors on Friday

All schools islandwide will be shutting their doors as of Friday for one week, as per the decision taken on Wednesday by the Education Ministry in a bid to contain the coronavirus outbreak, as cases spiralled to six in government-controlled areas....

1784. Four more people test positive for corornavirus in Cyprus

Four new cases of coronavirus were confirmed on Wednesday, raising the figure to seven across the divide....

1785. Erdogan likens Greek authorities to Nazis

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday said there is “no difference” between Nazis and the Greek authorities trying to hold the country’s border against the influx of thousands of migrants and refugees spurred to push into the European Union by Ankara....

1786. All samples from hospital contacts of coronavirus carrying doctor negative

All 152 samples taken from the contacts of the 64-year-old state doctor who tested positive for coronavirus emerged negative for the virus, the Health Ministry announced Tuesday evening....

1787. Berlin to take up to 100 children from Greek refugee camps

Berlin will take in 80 to 100 children from Greek refugee camps, an official in the German capital said on Tuesday, as concern mounts about migrants amassing on the Turkish-Greek border....

1788. Nicosia schools temporarily closed as coronavirus measures stepped up

Schools across the Nicosia district were temporarily suspended on Tuesday, Health Minister Constantinos Ioannou announced. ...

1789. UN ask T/C leadership to close Ledra checkpoint

A UN proposal issued to the Turkish Cypriot leadership on Monday suggested the closure of the Ledra checkpoint from the north, as has been done by Greek Cypriot authorities, effectively forbidding the movement of civilians into the Ledra Buffer Zone....

1790. EU executive tells Turkey to take migrants back from Greek border

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said ahead of talks with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that Turkey must move refugees and migrants away from the Greek border....

1791. The era of asymmetric threats

Kyriakos Mitsotakis would never have expected to star in a Greek edition of the perfect storm. Yet fate and events have put the Greek prime minister in charge of the country at a very crucial moment. He has shown determination in dealing with the migration/refugee issue, which has also bolstered his political image. The public was craving for a strong leader – a notion that was largely eclipsed by a sense of humiliation over the past 10 years....

1792. Cyprus scrambles to contain coronavirus risk

A police station and an army camp in Nicosia went under quarantine on Sunday following two suspected cases of the coronavirus, with health officials on the edge of their seat waiting for lab test results for over 30 individuals...

1793. Paphos student rushed to hospital

A high school student in Paphos was rushed to the Emergency Room after he fell through a trap door on school premises...

1794. Covid-19 cases in Greece jump to 31

The total number of the new coronavirus cases in Greece has risen to 31, after 21 more people who came in contact with the country’s ninth confirmed case tested positive, Greek Health Ministry spokesman Dimitris Tsiodras said in press briefing on Thursday....

1795. Checkpoint closures to be extended until Monday

The closure of four crossing points last Saturday, in what the Government said would be a one-week temporary precaution against coronavirus outbreak, will be extended until Monday, the National Council agreed on Thursday....

1796. Turkey deploys 1,000 police at Greek border to stem pushback of migrants

Turkey is deploying 1,000 special police forces along its border with Greece on Thursday to halt the pushback of migrants toward its territory, Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said, adding that 164 migrants had been wounded by Greek authorities....

1797. Akinci tells UNFICYP head coronavirus has nothing to do with checkpoint closures

The Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci met with UNFICYP head Elizabeth Spehar on Wednesday to discuss the move by the Greek Cypriot Government to shut four crossings along then UN-controlled Buffer Zone last week....

1798. Greek forces use tear gas to repel migrants

Greek riot police and troops used water cannon and tear gas on Wednesday against hundreds of migrants as they made another attempt to cross the border from Turkey into Greece....

1799. Μeasures needed to curb flow of migrants through Green Line, Anastasiades tells Akinci

President of the Republic of Cyprus Nicos Anastasiades expressed grave concern about the “organised and increasing illegal flow of migrants through the Green Line” and told the Turkish Cypriot leader, Mustafa Akinci, that measures need to be taken. ...

1800. President says increasing migrant flows from Turkey distorting demographic

President Nicos Anastasiades expressed concern over the flow of immigrants from Turkey, which he said is an attempt to distort the demographic character of Cyprus....