Coronavirus Update (Live)

[galexinda]

For several months the British High Commission has been advising people to carry their MEU1/MEU3 with them when they travel.

I do feel sorry for one lady who has a home here and has an appointment with Immigration for MEU1 and was due to return tomorrow (Sunday). She had applied in a timely manner but interview date was about 10 weeks after she went to make the appointment and she only arrived in Cyprus last October.

No sympathy for those who have lived here for some time and not registered with Immigration. Every other EU country I have visited adhered to the 90 day rule (not talking about Schengen Rules but what happens after you have stayed for the first 90 days and intend to take up residence).

[memory man]

Coronavirus: Interior Ministry clarifies new requirements to enter Cyprus

From 1 am on March 15 to 1 am on March 30, entry to the Republic of Cyprus via the airports and ports is allowed only to those belonging to the categories listed below and on presentation of the following documents, the Interior Ministry has clarified.

Cypriot citizens

Travel documents

Legal residents in the Republic of Cyprus

MEU 1,2,3 (yellow slip), or public utility bill in the name of the interested person for every national of an EU member state

Third country nationals must present a residence permit

European nationals working in the Republic

MEU 1,2,3 or certificate or receipt from the Department of Social Insurance or a confirmation from an employer

Third country nationals working in the Republic

Work permit

Nationals of countries who are in a designated diplomatic service or mission under bilateral or international conventions

Diplomatic ID or for those who do not hold one a non diplomatic card or confirmation by the competent authority as to the reasons for being in the Republic of Cyprus

Individual cases of European nationals or third-country nationals for unavoidable professional obligations, provided that the relevant authorization has been obtained from the competent Ministry

Confirmation from the competent ministry of the Republic of Cyprus as to the reason for the visit

European or third country citizens attending educational institutions in the Republic of Cyprus.

EU nationals should present an student ID and third country nationals an ID card and a student’s residence permit.

The ministry clarified that in all cases, all those arriving in Cyprus must follow the instructions of the Health Ministry to self isolate and self monitor for 14 days after their arrival.

Checkpoints

From 1 am on March 15 to 1 am on March 30, crossing the checkpoints is allowed only to people who belong to one of the categories below, the Interior Ministry has announced

Cypriot citizens, Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots.
Legal residents in the free areas.
EU citizens must present travel documents showing legal entry into the Republic and public utility bill showing they are legal residents.

Third country nationals must show travel documents showing legal entry and a residence permit in the Republic

Nationals of countries who are in a designated diplomatic service or mission under bilateral or international conventions.
Diplomatic ID or for those who do not hold one a non diplomatic card or confirmation by the competent authority as to the reasons for being in the Republic of Cyprus

All must comply with the instructions of the Health Ministry.

https://in-cyprus.com/coronavirus-inter ... er-cyprus/

[Yioula]

Patient in Paphos Hospital confirmed positive Coronavirus........closed for 48 hours

[Mrblobby]

To show how bad this is getting world wide , this is the latest from France .

“ All restaurants, bars, cafes and ‘non-essential’ shops, cinemas and night clubs throughout France are to close from midnight tonight and remain closed until further notice, Prime Minister Edouard Philippe announced tonight.

Food shops and markets, pharmacies, petrol stations, banks and newsagents - and certain public services - can remain open. Religious buildings can stay open but ceremonies and gatherings must be cancelled. “

[galexinda]

Dr Ed Wright, Senior Lecturer in Microbiology, University of Sussex, said:

“Herd immunity is the required proportion of a population that needs to be immune to a pathogen to stop it from spreading within that same community. This immunity can be stimulated by vaccination or recovery following infection. The level of herd immunity required depends on how transmissible the pathogen is.

“This can be gauged from its basic reproduction number (R0) – the average number of people a positive case will go onto infect. For instance, to stop measles virus spreading within a population requires upwards of 90% of people to have immunity because the R0 for the measles virus is high (12-18) – it’s an airborne virus. The latest R0 for SARS-CoV-2 puts it between 2 and 3 so estimates suggest around 60% of the population would need immunity to stop the virus from taking hold in a community.”

Other interesting opinions about herd immunity in the same article:
https://www.sciencemediacentre.org/expe ... -immunity/

[Dominic]

Five new coronavirus cases were detected on Saturday with one being a patient at Paphos general hospital, forcing authorities to shut it down for 48 hours.

The case concerns an individual who was being treated in the Paphos general hospital intensive care unit and who had been visited by relatives from the UK.

Following the confirmation, the ministry closed the hospital to the public and placed everyone inside in quarantine.

The state health services organisation said it had decided the immediate shutdown of the hospital for 48 hours for disinfection.

Staff and patients who may have come into contact with the patient were being tested and visits were banned.

All scheduled appointments, admissions, and surgeries were cancelled pending re-evaluation of the situation in 48 hours.

Two of the other cases concern individuals who had returned from Italy and who had been in self-isolation.

The other two incidents had also been in isolation after coming into contact with an individual who had tested positive previously. They had been tracked down as part of the ministry’s contact tracing process.

This brings the total number of people found positive to 31. Five of the cases were reported in the north.

https://cyprus-mail.com/2020/03/14/coro ... Hhqcq12nDE

[Dominic]

https://www.s7.ru/en/info/notification/ ... /#europe-2

Not good news for the tourist trade and is sure to have some people stuck either here or in Russia

[Dominic]

I have moved the previous two posts here.

Please post new stories about Corona here, in this thread. If you want to discuss it, use Devil's thread. Do not post new stories on the main forum, and do not have general discussion on this thread.

I have also made this thread and devil's thread sticky, so you will find both, along with the official summary thread, at the top of the page.

Please stick to these threads. They were voted for by you.

[galexinda]

More information about the incident at Paphos Hospital - updated 15 March

''All visits to patients in state hospitals have been banned after a 70-year-old man who was at the Paphos general hospital tested positive to Covid-19 after being visited by relatives arriving from the UK.

The Paphos hospital’s director, Dr Spyros Georgiou, told the Cyprus News Agency that the man has been an inpatient since February 3. He was recently moved to the intensive care unit after his condition deteriorated and was tested positive for Covid-19 after being visited by relatives from the UK.

Okypy said the Paphos hospital would close for 48 hours for disinfection whereas all staff and patients who may have come in contact with the 70-year-old are being tested for Covid-19.

All staff and patients are being examined for symptoms''.

More information: https://cyprus-mail.com/2020/03/15/blan ... ac_R_gbGCY

[galexinda]

More information about the patient who contract coronavirus at Paphos Hospital:

A 70 year old Briton who tested positive for coronavirus will be transferred to Famagusta General Hospital in Paralimni from the ICU unit of Paphos General Hospital on Sunday.

Paphos General Hospital director Dr Spyros Georgiou told the Cyprus News Agency that the man will be transferred by special ambulance. The Famagusta General Hospital is Cyprus’ referral hospital for coronavirus.

Georgiou said that the patient has been in hospital since February 3. He was moved to the intensive care unit a few days ago because of the deterioration of his health. Samples were taken and he tested positive for coronavirus, Georgiou added.

The patient had been visited by family from the UK in the past few days.

Paphos Hospital has closed for 48 hours so as to be disinfected.

https://in-cyprus.com/coronavirus-papho ... JCp8b9rtAA

[Dominic]

Shops to close for 4 weeks.

As from 6 am tomorrow, March 16 and for a period of four weeks the following companies must suspend their operations, Health Minister Constantinos Ioannou has announced: The above companies can carry on administrative or other work behind closed doors, provided they adhere to all rules of hygiene....

Read the article and chat about it below...

[memory man]

Coronavirus: Full text of President Anastasiades’ speech on new measures

Cabinet held an urgent meeting today after which President Nicosia Anastasiades announced new measures to contain the spread of coronavirus.

This is the full text of his speech, as released by the PIO:

At today’s meeting, the Council of Ministers reviewed the situation as it unfolds given the growing spread of the coronavirus.

Based on the World Health Organization’s data and on the situation as it is unfortunately changing daily, both in Europe and in Cyprus, the Council of Ministers considers that Cyprus is facing a state of emergency.

To this end, in addition to the measures already taken and to everything that was announced in the context of my address last Friday, the following decisions were made with a view to safeguarding public health and ensuring the economic survival of working people, businesses, economically vulnerable groups and the economy at large.

With regard to protecting the population from a further spread of the disease, the following decisions were taken:

Entry into the Republic of Cyprus of those persons that I have mentioned in my address, will only be granted to those who, upon their arrival, submit a medical certificate that they have been tested for coronavirus by certified medical centers from their country of origin. Those who fulfill these conditions will be placed under a 14-day compulsory quarantine at accommodation facilities designated by the Republic of Cyprus.
I would like to make absolutely clear that no one will be allowed to enter the Republic of Cyprus unless they meet and accept the above conditions.

Students who opt to stay in their places of study, will be granted a 750 allowance.

This decision shall enter into force at 6p.m. on March 16, 2020 and shall apply until April 30, 2020. Our decision shall also apply to those who use the crossing points between the free and the occupied areas, except for purely humanitarian reasons and following approval by the Minister of Interior.

It has been decided, initially, to allocate of the amount of 100 million euros for reinforcing the public health sector.
To suspend the operations of businesses of the private sector.
Assessing the situation as it now stands and on the basis of the decisions already taken, the Government has decided to adopt a comprehensive exceptional financial Support Programme for the working people, the small and medium-sized enterprises and in general of all Cypriot businesses.
The “Support Programme” that has been formulated is structured and specific, both in range as well as in expenditure, and it is valued at 700 million euros, an amount equal to the 3% of the GDP.

Once more, I would like to extend my gratitude to the political parties and our social partners for their contribution to the formation of the Support Programme.

With regard to the public sector, the Ministers have been authorized to proceed to the structuring of an emergency operations plan.
In relation to the issue of church attendance and the measures decided by the Government, I informed His Beatitude the Archbishop of Cyprus, who, realizing the seriousness of the situation, will make announcements this afternoon.
On behalf of the government, I have given instructions for the inter-ministerial committee to be in constant consultation, while the Cabinet will be ready at any time to take any further decisions that are deemed necessary.

The times are critical. As I have said in my address, measures alone do not suffice to safeguard public health and its impact.

What is needed, and I would like to stress this once again, is a sense of responsibility and social solidarity on the part of each and every one individually to deal with the critical situation we are facing.

We are experiencing a state of emergency and I want to repeat what I have said in my address on Friday:

I have no doubt that, with the State’s determination and the social sensitivity that as people we have repeatedly demonstrated at critical moments, we will succeed in overcoming this ordeal.

Note: For the statements of the President of the Republic, Mr Nicos Anastasiades, following the extraordinary meeting of the Council of Ministers, in Turkish, please click here.

https://in-cyprus.com/coronavirus-full- ... -measures/

[DavidatLWH]

"Entry into the Republic of Cyprus of those persons that I have mentioned in my address, will only be granted to those who, upon their arrival, submit a medical certificate that they have been tested for coronavirus by certified medical centers from their country of origin. Those who fulfill these conditions will be placed under a 14-day compulsory quarantine at accommodation facilities designated by the Republic of Cyprus.
I would like to make absolutely clear that no one will be allowed to enter the Republic of Cyprus unless they meet and accept the above conditions."

I'm supposed to flying out this week. I have my MEU1 with me. I'll just pop along and get tested.

Has the CY government thought this through? Perhaps this is the ultimate knee-jerk reaction some armchair experts on here would like in the UK.

Les Bean - you are right.

[mike strand2]

You've got to wonder where the 14 days quarantine accommodation facilities designated by the roc are, and what sort of places they are. Seems to be quite far removed from self isolation

It's some place in the Troodos mountain area, as the original locations received short shrift from scared villagers!

[memory man]

Coronavirus: First two patients to be discharged from hospital

The first two patients hospitalised after testing positive for coronavirus are to be discharged today from Famagusta Hospital in Paralimni which is the referral hospital for the virus, the Cyprus News Agency reports.

It said that the two had been admitted last Wednesday. They will discharged and transferred to facilities specified by the government where they will self-isolate for 14 days.

The condition of the other six patients is good, their health is improving daily and their treatment is preventive since their symptoms are mild, doctors told the news agency.

Since last Friday, a special triage medical office has started operation at Famagusta Hospital where suspect cases will be examined and samples taken.

It operates by appointment during the day and at night opens if the need arises once patients have contacted the call centre on 1420.

https://in-cyprus.com/coronavirus-first ... -hospital/

[Dominic]

Thirteen new coronavirus cases were confirmed on Monday.

These concern 10 health professionals working at the Paphos general hospital and a patient who had come in contact with a patient being treated there.

The other cases are two persons who recently arrived one from the UK, the other from Greece and had presented symptoms.

This brings the total number to 46.

Read the article and chat about it below...

[Dominic]

If you are posting a link please say what it is about:

https://cyprus-mail.com/2020/03/16/pass ... -deadline/

Passengers on an EasyJet flight from Gatwick to Larnaca that arrived at 7.35pm on Monday are in shock after being told they could not get off the plane as they had passed the 6pm deadline for needing the necessary health certificate proving they have been tested for Covid-19.

One of the passengers, Frank, called the Cyprus Mail to say authorities were refusing to let them off the plane unless they present the health certificate which authorities in the UK will not issue anyway.

“They won’t let us off the plane,” he said.

He added that he is a permanent resident of Cyprus and has nowhere to go in the UK.

[trevnhil]

I am interested to hear what the outcome will be for the people on these two planes..

[Dominic]

Translated from Greek:

Finally, the disturbance in Pafos International Airport tonight, the Minister of Transport gave. Mr Karoussos announced that the 30 Cypriot students would be allowed to land in Cyprus by the plane that was transporting them from Manchester although they did not have the medical certificates required today and would be immediately detained for 14 days.

The Minister of Transport appeared particularly disturbed and intense about the responsibility of the airline and other British authorities, since despite having NOTAM on the subject, they allowed the boarding of persons without a relevant medical certificate. The Government, in cooperation with the Prosecutor General's Office, will take legal action against anyone responsible for this omission.

[galexinda]

Some infrared photos showing how it is important to wash hands for at least 20 seconds to have a marked effect.
The white areas are where the germs are located.