Test at airport

[WHL]

Just seen the earlier part of the thread and that you are resident in Cyprus...............it is good to know that all the strenuous efforts taken by the Cypriot authorities to prevent Covid 19 even extend to their residents when they are in the UK, that's some protection!!!!!! Maybe I am being thick but at the moment the Cypriot authorities seem to think that any Brit arriving from the UK has the plague and wont be let in but anybody holding a Cypriot residency who has been in the UK can get in without quarantining, not sure I see the scientific logic in that ?

Expats and Cypriots live here, its their home tourists do not, seems clear enough to me.

[PolemIan]

Just seen the earlier part of the thread and that you are resident in Cyprus...............it is good to know that all the strenuous efforts taken by the Cypriot authorities to prevent Covid 19 even extend to their residents when they are in the UK, that's some protection!!!!!! Maybe I am being thick but at the moment the Cypriot authorities seem to think that any Brit arriving from the UK has the plague and wont be let in but anybody holding a Cypriot residency who has been in the UK can get in without quarantining, not sure I see the scientific logic in that ?

Your final sentence is why I’m so confused at the moment. The Cyprus Government has been so clear with its messages since day 1, and I think it’s fair to say has been praised by most. However, if people are returning from a Cat C country such as the U.K., the Legal Declaration part of the FlightPass is very clear, and it’s not a particularly long or complex document, on the need to self isolate regardless of the test result on arrival This is the exact wording of the final paragraph;

“ I am aware and accept that I will be under compulsory self-isolation for 14 days, according to the instructions, and the precautionary and self-protection measures of the Ministry of Health, regardless of whether the result of the COVID-19 laboratory test is positive or negative, either at my residence or in case I do not have a residence in the Republic of Cyprus, at a place that will be indicated to me by the Republic of Cyprus.”.

On the past performance of the government, i simply can’t get my head around the rules being changed for the FlightPass and they haven’t updated it, or somebody on the ground at the airport giving contrary advice.

It would be terrible if somebody came back like that, then went down with the virus and was then punished for not following the declaration.

Am I reading this wrong?

Link to FlightPass full declaration attached be,ow.

https://cyprusflightpass.gov.cy/en/legal-declarations


Ian

[Princebytor]

Don't have a problem with that Ian, it was just that Sunspot didn't seem to think he needed to self isolate for 14 days. I thought what the authorities were doing was preferring their own citizens over the citizens of another EU state..............

[sunspot]

Apologies, PolemIan, you are right. The FlightPass does say that. And apart from buying food (with masks), we are self-isolating anyway. There were 72 people on our flight, according to the flight attendant, and I wonder how many are in isolation.

Problem is: you cannot complete the FlightPass until 24 hours before the flight. You do it quickly, concerned that the website may freeze or crash (you have already paid for the flight). You quickly scan the paras and tick the boxes. You focus on filling in the form correctly. A hard copy is irrelevant. The government only accepts the electronic version.

When you arrive at airport you wait in one room, then enter an adjoining room to pay for test, then go into a cubicle to get test. The passengers from each flight are held separately, no intermingling. Nowhere is there a sign saying: 'You must self-isolate for 14 days, regardless of test result.' If there were, the rooms are so small, everyone would see it. And no one tells you to isolate.

When you receive your result by SMS, they could say: 'You tested negative but must self-isolate for 14 days.' This would be easy and cost-free. Instead they only say: 'You tested negative.'

WHL's friend clearly had the same experience. This is not an excuse. We should have reread the FlightPass. But if the government wants to eliminate doubt, this would be easy to do. One must take account of the human factor, i.e. people may willfully or unwittingly ignore the rule unless it is restated at least once on arrival.

When the flight landed, the flight attendant announced: 'If you already have a test certificate, disembark by the front door. Those who need a test, use the rear door.' We were not separated by citizenship status. Our resident certificates were checked at passport control, which also checked that we had a test receipt.

Anyone planning a flight to Cyprus is welcome to ask me any questions or PM me.

[PolemIan]

Thanks Sunspot, good update and great info on the process. As you say any easy fix with the SMS, as someone once said “how hard can it be?”

Ian

[sunny201]

Hi WHL
Bit late to be asking but did your friend have a MUE1 or a MUE3
sunny201

[WHL]

Hi WHL
Bit late to be asking but did your friend have a MUE1 or a MUE3
sunny201

He is a Brit who has lived in Cyprus since the 80s and along with his wife have taken Cypriot Citizenship

[sunny201]

Thanks WHL

sunny201

[jeba]

Do you have to have a hardcopy of the MEU1 or 3 with you or would showing a picture on your cell be good enough?

[Jimgward]

https://www.bupa.co.uk/health/payg/covid-testing

BUPA Tests for £65

Apologies - that’s an Antibody test using blood - not an Antigen test

[Yioula]

The test is only a moment in time as read on numerous occasions negative tests at the airport only to prove positive 48 hours + later
The U.K. has had an enormous thrashing but they aren’t the only nationality to bring Covid to the island
Cyprus has been exceptionally careful who enters just look at Spain but it’s not an island so those people that live in other Europeans countries can drive over border to border
At the end of th day as originally said people move this virus which appears 100% correct

[Cactuslil]

WHL, then someone at Larnaca needs a bollocking. It’s very clear on FlightPass:

Category C

If you are travelling to the Republic of Cyprus from a Category C Country or if you have stayed/lived in a Category C Country within the past 14 days before your travel to the Republic of Cyprus or you will be a passenger on an international journey to the Republic of Cyprus via intermediate Countries of Category C with an overnight stay, you are allowed to enter in the Republic of Cyprus and to perform the COVID-19 test upon your entry to the Republic of Cyprus, only if you belong to the below passenger categories:

Cypriot citizens, permanently residing in the Republic of Cyprus and their family members (foreign spouses, their minor children and their parents).
Persons legally residing in the Republic of Cyprus.
Persons allowed to enter in the Republic of Cyprus under the Vienna Convention.
Persons, regardless of nationality, having a special permission by the Republic of Cyprus Persons, as defined under the infectious Diseases (Determination of Measures Against the Spread of the COVID-19 Coronavirus disease) Decree (N.30), as amended.
Υou will be required to bear the cost of the COVID-19 laboratory test of 60 euros yourself, and pay any accommodation costs may arise (60 euros daily for single occupancy and 90 euros daily for double occupancy), If the test results will take a day or more to be completed, as well as transportation costs.

You will be required to remain under compulsory self-isolation for 14 days, according to the instructions and the precautionary and self-protection measures of the Ministry of Health, regardless of whether the result of the COVID-19 laboratory test is positive or negative, either at your residence or in case you do not have a residence in the Republic of Cyprus, at a place that will be indicated to you by the Republic of Cyprus”.

Ian

Just got off the phone to my mate and I asked him again, he was told go straight home and wait for the results, if they are negative carry on as normal,
Makes sense to me, why would you need to quarantine for 14 days if your tested nagative

That has always been the case. After we were repatriated in May we had to be quarantined in a hotel for 14days despite a negative test. Not even allowed out of our rooms so 14 days at home seems a sensible option.