Cyprus Labour Ministry issues warning against mid-day work

As the heat wave that has hit Cyprus continues, the Ministry of Labour and Social Insurance issued today a warning, ordering employers to ask their staff to stop working for four hours, from noon until 1600, if their job involves exposure to sunlight.
Cyprus has been suffering from unusually high temperatures, for this time of the year, coupled with very high levels of humidity in addition to very light winds.
According to the Meteorological Services, today’s temperatures were in the 40s inland and around 34 on the coast and will remain at that level on Friday too.
Humidity at Pafos airport, on the west coast, reached 75%, with 65% in the southern coastal town and 44% at Larnaca airport.
The Cyprus Electricity Authority (EAC) said today that demand for electricity registered a new record, as the highest production stood at 1021 MW, when inland temperatures reached 42.5 degrees Centigrade.
EAC said in a statement that in spite of the huge demand, there was uninterrupted supply and its services responded well.
Meanwhile, Minister of Agriculture, Natural Resources and the Environment Fotis Fotiou appealed again for restraint in the use of water, saying that water capacity in the island’s reservoirs is barely 19 per cent.
“We have very little water in our reservoirs and if we are not careful, this will not last long. Needless to say that the high temperatures worsen the situation,” he pointed out, noting that the Cabinet decided at its weekly meeting on Wednesday to set up mobile desalination units to supply water within the next six to eight months.