Cyprus: Government holds off on new measures, for now

Amid a spike in the number of new covid cases and hospitalised patients, the President of the Republic of Cyprus, Nicos Anastasiades held an urgent meeting with his team of experts on Monday evening.

Following the meeting, he was asked a number of questions from reporters including the measures the government will impose. In response, Anastasiades said that "within the next 48 hours the necessary decisions will be taken, as we continue to closely monitor the epidemiological situation."

Regarding concerns of a partial lockdown in some provinces or a total lockdown, he added that "the decisions that must be taken will be announced when the time is right."

Anastasiades highlighted Cyprus' success in tackling the outbreak earlier this year and noted that he understood people’s fatigue and concerns about the economy but stressed the need to protect the health system. “What we want is through the measures to achieve what we did with the first wave of the pandemic. We are concerned about the economy and the fatigue, but at the same time we are concerned about health more generally.”

It is recalled last week Cyprus reintroduced a nationwide night-time curfew from 11pm until 5am.

Bars, restaurants, shopping malls and cafes are now required to close by 10:30pm.

The only exceptions to the curfew- anyone who’s on the job (they must fill out an employee movement certificate) and for emergency medical reasons.

The health minister also announced a ban on all children’s sports and social activities, and the closure of indoor and outdoor playgrounds as well as gyms.