Epidemiological risk assessment of countries concerning COVID-19, dated 05/07/2021
Following a decision of the Council of Ministers, on 18 February 2021, regarding the Action Plan for the gradual resumption of flights and the re-opening of airports, the Epidemiological Monitoring Unit of the Ministry of Health has made a re-evaluation of the epidemiological situation in various countries as regards COVID-19.
The categorization for the countries of the European Union and the European Economic Area (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway) as well as Switzerland in the
Green, Orange or
Red Categories, is based upon that of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).
With regard to third countries (United Kingdom, Russia, Ukraine, Israel, Lebanon, United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Belarus, Qatar, Serbia, United States of America, Armenia, Georgia, Bahrein), in addition to Kuwait and Canada as of 1/6/21, as well as those countries included in the updated list of the European Council Recommendation 2021/89 for the gradual lifting of temporary restrictions for non-essential travel within the EU, these are evaluated epidemiologically by the Ministry of Health and are categorized into the Green, Orange and Red categories.
The following categorization of countries, based on the epidemiological risk assessment,
is extremely dynamic and may be modified at any moment as the pandemic evolves and the epidemiological data changes. For this reason, new data will be announced and the list of countries will be updated frequently.
Green Category countries – Low risk countries at current stage
European Union member states: 1) Malta, 2) Poland, 3) Romania, 4) Austria, 5) Bulgaria, 6) Czech Republic, 7) Hungary, 8) Germany, 9) Italy, 10) Finland, 11) Slovakia, 12) Croatia, 13) Estonia, 14) France, 15) Greece, 16) Lithuania, 17) Luxembourg, 18) Slovenia, 19) Belgium, 20) Denmark
Schengen members: 1) Iceland, 2) Norway, 3) Switzerland, 4) Liechtenstein
Small states: 1) Monaco, 2) Vatican City
Third countries: 1) Australia, 2) New Zealand, 3) Singapore, 4) Israel, 5) Jordan
It is noted that
passengers coming from the Green Category countries are not required to hold a COVID-19 test certificate or self-isolate.
Orange Category countries - Countries with possibly low risk but greater uncertainty compared to the Green Category
European Union member states: 1) Portugal, 2) Ireland, 3) Latvia, 4) Sweden, 5) Netherlands
Third countries: 1) China (including Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan), 2) United States of America, 3) Japan, 4) Serbia, 5) Canada, 6) Saudi Arabia, 7) Lebanon, 8) South Korea, 9) North Macedonia, 10) Qatar, 11) Kosovo, 12) Azerbaijan
Small states: 1) Andorra
It is noted that passengers coming from Orange Category countries
shall be required to undergo a PCR laboratory test within 72 hours prior to departure and to possess a certificate showing a negative
PCR result.
It is also clarified that passengers from Orange Category countries, falling into the following categories,
may undergo the molecular examination upon arrival in the Republic:
1. Cypriot citizens and family members (alien spouses and their underage children),
2. Persons legally residing in the Republic,
3. Persons entitled to enter the Republic under the Vienna Convention,
4. Persons, irrespective of nationality, whose countries of residence (Orange category) do not provide a laboratory testing service, upon substantiation and following an announcement by the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Cyprus.
It is noted that the
examination cost will be borne by themselves and in addition, such persons
shall remain in self-isolation until the test result is issued.
Red Category countries – Increased risk countries compared to the Green and Orange Categories:
European Union member states: 1) Spain
Small states: 1) San Marino
Schengen members: 1) Switzerland, 2) Liechtenstein
Third countries: 1) Rwanda, 2) Russia, 3) United Arab Emirates, 4) Ukraine, 5) Egypt, 6) Belarus, 7) Thailand, 8) Armenia, 9) Georgia, 10) Bahrein, 11) Kuwait, 12) Albania, 13) United Kingdom, 14) Moldova, 15) Bosnia-Herzegovina, 16) Brunei, 17) Montenegro
It is noted that passengers coming from Red Category countries
shall be required to: a) undergo a PCR laboratory test within 72 hours prior to departure proving a negative PCR result and
b) undergo a laboratory test upon their arrival in the Republic of Cyprus.
The
examination cost will be borne by themselves and in addition, such persons
should remain in self-isolation until the test result is issued.
The following categories of passengers may enter the Republic of Cyprus from Red Category countries, after having undergone, at their own expense, a laboratory test only upon their arrival in the Republic of Cyprus:
1. Cypriot citizens and family members (alien spouses and their underage children),
2. Persons legally residing in the Republic,
3. Persons entitled to enter the Republic under the Vienna Convention.
In such case, persons falling within the categories 1-3 above must
remain in mandatory self-isolation for 72 hours upon arrival and
after the end of the 72-hour period they must undergo another PCR test, at their own expense. If the repeat test is negative, they can then terminate their isolation. The test result must be sent to the following email address: monada@mphs.moh.gov.cy.
However these passengers are strictly recommended to contact the air company prior to their departure because a number of air companies do not allow boarding of those passengers who do not hold a certificate of negative molecular COVID-19 test.
Grey Category countries (Special Permission):
Countries that are not mentioned in the aforementioned categories (green, orange and red) are considered to belong in the Grey Category (Special Permission). For the Grey Category countries, entry into the Republic of Cyprus
is only allowed for the following categories of passengers:
1. Cypriot citizens and family members (alien spouses and their underage children),
2. European citizens and citizens of European Economic Area countries (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway) and Switzerland,
3. Persons legally residing in the Republic,
4. Persons entitled to enter the Republic under the Vienna Convention,
5. Third country nationals who are allowed to enter the Republic of Cyprus following a special permission from the Republic, as this is defined in the Quarantine Decree (N.9) of 2021, as this is modified each time.
It is noted that passengers coming from countries of this Category shall be required to undergo a laboratory test at a certified lab
within 72 hours prior to departure and to possess a certificate showing a negative PCR result.
Excluding category number 2 above, the rest of the passengers may undergo the laboratory test upon their arrival in the Republic of Cyprus, at their own expense.
Passengers arriving in the Republic of Cyprus from the Grey Category countries (Special Permission) shall remain in
mandatory self-isolation or mandatory quarantine for a period of 14 days or alternatively,
in mandatory self-isolation or mandatory quarantine for a period of 7 days provided that they undergo another Covid-19 test (at their own expense) on the 7 day and the result comes back negative. The test result must be sent to the following email address: monada@mphs.moh.gov.cy .
It is underlined that
all passengers, regardless of country category, shall be obliged to submit an application for the CyprusFlightPass within 48 hours prior to their departure flight. Moreover, in order to insure public health and the monitoring of the epidemiological situation, a sample molecular laboratory testing of passengers on selected arriving flights will be carried out.
It is noted that the above categorization of countries
shall take effect on 08 July 2021.
Conditions applied to vaccinated passengers
The Ministry of Health clarifies that the following
apply, as of 10 May, to vaccinated passengers arriving in the Republic of Cyprus from its points of entry:
Passengers holding a valid certificate of vaccination against COVID-19 arriving in Cyprus from abroad, regardless of their nationality and country of departure, shall be exempted from the obligation of laboratory testing and self-isolation/quarantine, subject to the following conditions:
1) They hold
a valid certificate of vaccination issued by the following states:
(i) EU Member States (including Cyprus)
(ii) EEA Member States (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway)
(iii) Switzerland
(iv) Israel
(v) United Kingdom
(vi) Russia
(vii) United Arab Emirates
(viii) Saudi Arabia
(ix) Ukraine
(x) Jordan
(xi) Lebanon
(xii) Egypt
(xiii) Belarus
(xiv) Serbia
(xv) Qatar
(xvi) Bahrein
(xvii) United States of America
(xviii) Armenia
(xix) Georgia
(xx) Canada
(xxi) Kuwait
2) They have been vaccinated either
with one of the vaccines approved by the European Medicines Agency (Pfizer/BioNTech, AstraZeneca, Moderna, Janssen),
or with Sputnik V vaccine, or with Sinopharm (BBIBP COVID-19) as of 21st May and
have completed their vaccination scheme. It is noted that for vaccines that are administered in two doses, passengers must have been administered both doses, while for the Janssen vaccine (single dose vaccine) 14 days must have elapsed between the administration of the vaccine and the date of travel. More information is available on:
https://cyprusflightpass.gov.cy/en/vaccinated-passengers.
It is also noted that
all passengers, regardless of the country’s category, including those holding a valid certificate of vaccination, are obliged to apply for the CyprusFlightPass
48 hours before the departure of their flight. Moreover, for the protection of public health and the monitoring of the epidemiological situation, passengers of selected flights
(including passengers holding a vaccination certificate) may undergo a random laboratory molecular
testing carried out by the Ministry of Health.