Cyprus on Monday lifted more COVID-19 restrictions with weddings back on, a later curfew and no safe pass needed for outdoor activities.
The safe pass is no longer necessary for enjoying outdoor facilities at restaurants, cafes, theatres, cinemas, while the night-time curfew has been pushed back to midnight from 11 pm.
The easing of measures to contain Covid-19 were decided by the Cabinet on Friday as the country’s epidemiological outlook has improved.
A two-week national lockdown was imposed on 26 April after daily cases had reached a record 941 a few days earlier.
Following the lockdown, cases have been in the 100’s with the country’s health system taking a well-deserved breather.
Patients in the hospital halved compared to before the lockdown; on Sunday, 157 patients were in hospital COVID wards, of which 50 are in a serious condition.
NEW MEASURES:
- Weddings and christenings can occur with a maximum of 200 people in attendance, as long as not more than 30% of church space is taken up. Parties can also have up to 200 people, on the condition they are held at an outdoor facility. Only the couple and in-laws will be allowed to dance at parties.
Cocktail parties will be allowed as of 1 June.
- Customers at cafes and restaurants will no longer be required to carry a safe pass, consisting of either proof of vaccination, recovery from the virus, or a negative rapid test no older than 72 hours, to visit outdoor seating areas and outdoor theatres and cinemas.
- A safe pass is also not needed to go to supermarkets, hairdressers, banks, kiosks, bakeries, or public services.
- The safe pass will remain a requirement to visit the indoor venues, including gyms, theatres, shopping malls, hotel stays and churches.
- A night-time curfew starts at midnight until 5 am.
- Casinos and conferences, and commercial fairs are also allowed, keeping to the 30% capacity rule.
- Theatres and cinemas can hold events, with a maximum of 50 people, not exceeding 30% of their capacity. Outdoor facilities can hold events not exceeding 50% capacity.
- Theme parks and playgrounds also open, but home visits are still restricted to 10 people in a household.
- Authorities continue to encourage people to work from home, but 50% of employees at private companies and civil servants can work from their office.
- People working from their offices will be obliged to be tested on a bi-weekly basis unless they have been vaccinated with at least the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, no less than three weeks earlier.
