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151. Travel categories of SMS system that returns Sunday

The SMS system that Cyprus was happy to be rid of in late spring last year will be returning on Sunday as the island grapples with the rampant spread of coronavirus that has left the healthcare system increasingly burdened....

152. SMS system returns as Cyprus enters three-week lockdown

Cyprus Health Minister Constantinos Ioannou announced the new restrictions agreed upon by the Cabinet on Friday, which include a clampdown on unnecessary movements, and social and professional gatherings....

153. House gatherings banned, leniency for NYE

The holiday period appears to have taken its toll on the local coronavirus pandemic as Cyprus announced a record high 751 new cases on Monday, with the Health Ministry following up on Tuesday with stricter restrictions just days before New Year’s Eve....

154. Syrian refugees 'roughing it' at police station

Newly-arrived presumptive refugees were on standby this week, after reports said they were taken to a police station in Famagusta district due to overcrowding conditions at a migrant reception centre in rural Nicosia...

155. North imposes entry ban amid virus spike

Turkish Cypriot media reported Monday that health authorities in the north imposed stricter coronavirus measures, including a ban on entry into the north for its residents and those who work in the Republic....

156. New measures announced, 9pm curfew imposed islandwide

Health minister Constantinos Ioannou on Friday announced the Cabinet’s decisions on the new restrictions that will affect the Republic of Cyprus in December, with the starkest among them being an island-wide 9pm curfew....

157. Highways clog as authorities issue travel ban specifics

The health ministry on Friday clarified that 12 categories of people are exempted from the travel ban enforced on the Limassol and Paphos districts until the end of the month, but said that as of next Wednesday, November 18, each person wanting to get through the roadblocks will have to show proof of a negative coronavirus test taken no more than seven days prior....

158. Elusive businessman with Cyprus ties pops up

The whereabouts of elusive Russian hedge fund manager German Lillevali, who was linked to a flurry of companies in Cyprus after he became a resident, are no longer a mystery after reports that he was detained in the US on an immigration violation but released due to overcrowding amid the coronavirus pandemic...

159. Systems tested by slaughterhouse outbreak

A company that owns a slaughterhouse in rural Nicosia has until Monday to explain how 79 people were found working without proper authorization, following a coronavirus outbreak on the premises and days after the firm hinted that government officials were supplying asylum seekers for manual labour through backchannels...

160. Partial lockdowns on Limassol, Paphos, migrant camps

The health minister Constantinos Ioannou announced stricter measures late on Wednesday night, with restrictions to be even harsher in the Limassol and Paphos districts that have developed into the epicentres of the island’s recent pandemic flare-up....

161. Cyprus tightens restrictions, imposes 11pm curfew

In a national address on Wednesday night, the Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades said the government was obliged to take tough decisions for stricter measures as the island was no exception to Europe’s second coronavirus wave, before the health minister stepped in to outline the new measures that come into effect on Thursday....

162. Emergency restriction measures on Nicosia, Limassol districts

Emergency restriction measures are to be imposed on the Nicosia and Limassol districts on Tuesday in response to the climbing figure of new coronavirus cases being detected, mainly at workplaces and after family gatherings....

163. Winter season a window of opportunity for tourism

With the tourism sector’s performance this summer having refuted even the most optimistic forecasts that were made, the question for tour operators is what more can be done over the next period to reduce the big losses. As such, everyone's attention has shifted to the winter period that begins next November and ends in March 2021....

164. Passports under the watchful eye of the Commission

165. Farmer refuses to return worker’s passport

A story has emerged involving alleged mistreatment of a foreign worker, after a post shared on Facebook by a local NGO pointed to an old practice by employers unlawfully retaining foreign workers’ passports for leverage...

166. Cyprus downgrades Greece amid virus fears

Cyprus will introduce mandatory testing for all arrivals from Greece starting August 6, after many cases were detected during random tests from passengers returning from Greece in the last few days....

167. More cases over the weekend

Five cases were announced in the Republic of Cyprus over the weekend, and four passengers detected in the north, with the vast majority of cases on the island involving inbound travel from abroad...

168. Students arrested as visa debate rages on

Police officers and immigration agents raided establishments in Paphos on Sunday, arresting two international students who were found working without authorization, with critics calling on the state to ease restrictions and allow off-campus work...

169. Emirates SkyCargo expands network to Larnaca

Apart from Larnaca, the new cities added to the air cargo carrier’s network include Accra, Algiers, Athens, Fort Lauderdale, Glasgow, Los Angeles, Male, Moscow (SVO), Phnom Penh, Rome, Santiago, Sialkot and Tunis....

170. KISA weighs in on downtown clashes

An NGO director in Cyprus is challenging the notion that foreign rival gangs have desolated the historic centre of the capital, saying bad practices by some local employment agencies are often behind many disputes including a fatal incident last Sunday...

171. Cyprus residents flock to checkpoints as north matches decision of Republic

Residents of both sides of the island flocked to cross through checkpoints on Monday, after the administration in the north agreed in an emergency meeting late on Sunday to match the Republic’s decision to open checkpoints to Cyprus nationals and legal residents of the island....

172. Both sides of Cyprus not making the resumption of crossings easy

The Turkish Cypriot administration on Sunday appeared to be sticking to allowing just Greek Cypriot enclaved and Maronites living in the north to cross through checkpoints, despite a decision taken Friday by the Republic of Cyprus to allow all groups of Cyprus nationals and legal residents of the island to cross through from Sunday....

173. Cyprus outlines drastic step on migration

Republic of Cyprus Interior Minister Nikos Nouris is urgently seeking a constitutional amendment to shorten the time of due process for asylum applicants, calling a set of government-sponsored bills a “holistic approach” to immigration during a press conference on Thursday...

174. Government announces rules for crossing checkpoints

The Cyprus government on Friday announced the special rules that will apply for those groups permitted to move through crossing points as of June 8, but it remains unclear whether the ‘government’ in the north will be following through on the agreement between President Nicos Anastasiades and the Turkish Cypriot leader....

175. Airports to reopen in two stages from June 9

Cyprus on Friday worked out the details of the resumption of its tourism sector, with the Cabinet green lighting a two-stage action plan for the reopening of the Larnaca and Paphos airports....

176. Negative coronavirus test certificate needed to go through crossings

With the partial opening of checkpoints on June 8, as agreed by the island’s two leaders on Thursday, Presidential Commissioner Photis Photiou said that in addition to the enclaved, Greek Cypriots who resettled in their villages in the breakaway north will also be allowed to pass through crossing points....

177. First steps taken for the reopening of checkpoints

Substantial steps were taken on Thursday by the leaders of the island’s divided communities toward the reopening of crossing points, with the two agreeing that as a first step, certain groups of people will be allowed to cross through checkpoints as of June 8....

178. Fraudulent scheme ‘unmasked’ by police

Two suspects are in custody in connection with face mask reseller fraud in Cyprus, after state authorities discovered free supplies with government barcodes being sold in local pharmacies...

179. 26 construction sites shut down for non-compliance with health protocols

Since the construction sector was permitted to resume operation on Monday, 26 construction sites have so far been forced to shut down after inspections revealed they completely failed to adhere to health and safety protocols in place as the island is still grappling with the pandemic....

180. Lifting restrictions signal progress, but concerns high over relapse

Health Minister Constantinos Ioannou said Wednesday that with the island moving toward recovering from the coronavirus outbreak, the gradual lifting of measures set to begin next week is a testament of the progress being made, but it also a source of intense concern over a potential relapse....