The Council of Ministers, chaired by the President of the Republic, lasted about an hour and a half, Nicos Anastasiades with the Minister of Health, Michael Hadjipandela presenting the recommendations of the experts on new additional measures aimed at limiting the spread of the virus.
According to a statement from the Ministry of Health, the new measures "locked" by the Council of Ministers concern:
(a) from 17 January to 16 February 2022, the inclusion of the "test to stay" measure in primary and secondary education,[/B] with the aim of keeping schools open and detecting positive cases of coronavirus in time. Close contacts of confirmed cases who have no history of vaccination, instead of being placed on restriction, will be subjected to daily antigen detection rapid test (rapid test) for a period of 5 days. This decision applies only to students and the Rapid test will be carried out by mobile units of the Ministry of Health visiting schools.
(b) from 13 January 2022, the lifting of the ban on visits to nursing homes and closed facilities, with entry to these places being permitted only to persons who have completed their vaccination programme and the 7-month period has not elapsed, or hold a certificate of infection and the 90-day period has not elapsed, or have received the booster/3rd dose, provided that they present a negative Rapid test of the same day.
(c) as of January 14 at 5:00 a.m, either a 72-hour PCR laboratory test or a 24-hour Rapid test is acceptable for travel purposes to the Republic of Cyprus. In addition, in the case of positive cases, at least 10 days must have elapsed from the date of sampling of a positive result in order to travel to the Republic of Cyprus. Recall that until 31 January 2022, all passengers over 12 years of age will be required to have a PCR laboratory test upon arrival at airports in the Republic of Cyprus and, 72 hours after arrival, a rapid antigen detection test (Rapid test), with the exception of those who have received the booster/3rd dose of vaccine.
(d) The extension of all existing measures until 31 January 2022.
"The hospitals of the HHC are working tirelessly to respond" says the Health Minister
[/P]"The rapid deterioration of the epidemiological indicators recorded in Cyprus in recent weeks due to the prevalence of the Omicron variant leaves us no room for complacency" the Health Minister stresses.
As he notes in a written statement, as the Ministry of Health we are constantly vigilant, and we are evaluating all scientific and/or epidemiological data together with the Scientific Advisory Committee. Our focus is on the safest possible operation of society, with the aim of protecting and defending the health of all our citizens and in particular our vulnerable groups.
"With a positivity rate consistently above 3% and with over 28 thousand cases since the last Cabinet meeting, the hospitals of the OCHS are working tirelessly to respond to the increased number of hospitalizations, a fact that we take seriously, since the protection of public health is a key factor in every decision we make," he underlines.
"Following recommendations from scientists, at this stage it has been deemed necessary to take further protective measures in schools, with the aim of keeping schools open and detecting positive cases of coronavirus in time, without depriving students of their basic right to education," it concludes.
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