IT is early days in the outbreak of Covid-19 on the island of Cyprus, but already the authorities have taken drastic action to help preserve the health of their citizens, including putting 41 people from the UK into quarantine after they arrived without any papers.
The island of 1.2 million people is split into the Republic of Cyprus and the self-declared Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus – recognised only by Turkey – with a third of the population living in that north.
In the south, the health ministry announced yesterday that three new confirmed cases had taken the total to 49. In response to the outbreak, the Cypriot government has taken tough action.
It has ordered that all people arriving in Cyprus must self-isolate for 14 days, except for those coming from Italy, Iran, South Korea and Hubei province in China, who will be quarantined. Others arriving in the country must have medical papers confirming they do not have the virus.
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In addition, hotels have been told to suspend all services by Saturday. The island’s two main hotelier associations, the Cyprus Hotel Association (PASYXE) and the Association of Cyprus Tourist Enterprises (Stek) told the Cyprus Mail yesterday that no problems had been reported with the evacuation.
Hotels must follow strict health ministry rules for the health and safety of both hotel guests and staff, with the latter set to receive unemployment benefit when their hotels either scale down or close.
Stek chairman Akis Vavlitis said everything was running smoothly, but he expressed concern about what the situation might look like after May, “whether hotels will re-open or whether holiday bookings would start to pick up”.
He said: “Everything will depend on developments in the countries where our tourists come from … the UK, Germany, the Scandinavian countries and central Europe, and in what state these countries’ economies will be.”
State of emergency declared in Luxembourg
LUXEMBOURG is at the centre of the European Union, and its efforts to suppress Covid-19 are being keenly observed by other EU countries, not least because the government yesterday declared a state of emergency.
The prime minister, Xavier Bettel (above), who leads a country with a population smaller than Glasgow’s, said on Tuesday he would seek the approval of the Luxembourg parliament, the chamber of deputies, for a three month state of emergency after a record daily increase in infections.
One person, a 94-year-old woman, has died in the country which now has recorded 140 cases of Covid-19.
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With Luxembourg enjoying fine early spring weather, Bettel said yesterday: “Stay home. Stay as much as possible at home and avoid contact with others. You should not meet outside. This is the wrong signal. I know with this weather you want to do other things. This is wrong.”
Travel restrictions are already in place. Traffic on public roads is restricted to the purchase of food, pharmaceuticals and basic necessities, visiting health services, travel to the place of work for the exercise of professional or commercial activity, assistance and care for the elderly, minors, dependent people, disabled people or particularly vulnerable people.
Travel to financial and insurance institutions in the event of an emergency is allowed, as are leisure activities such as walking and jogging. Playgrounds also remain open, provided strangers maintain a distance of two metres.
The state of emergency has constitutional limitations, so the government will undoubtedly get approval for the measure.
Malta closes all venues to fight outbreak
AS the country in the European Union with the smallest population, Malta has taken very direct action to battle the outbreak of Covid-19 on its islands.
All restaurants, bars, gyms and other places where large groups can gather were closed as of midnight last night. Clubs, cinemas and other areas where the public gather will also be shut, though take-away outlets will still be open for business.
There are tough quarantine regulations in place for those who either have the virus or are in danger of getting it, and these laws are also being tightened up.
The fines for those breaking the new quarantine law rose from €1000 to €3000 yesterday, though most people are scrupulously observing the law.
The Malta police force said yesterday: “Over the past 24 hours the Administrative Law Enforcement Unit (ALE) & the Gozo Police performed another 149 spot-checks in Malta and 26 spot-checks in Gozo where everyone was found to be abiding with the quarantine regulations.
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“We have so far done a total of 577 spot-checks and will continue these.” Prime minister Robert Abela, who came to power earlier this year, has urged all Maltese residents who are currently abroad to return to Malta as soon as possible. He said: “These are not the best of times. But the more we cooperate the sooner we will get out of this crisis.
“We don’t want to go towards the total lockdown button. So far, the health authorities are not indicating that we need to press the red button.
“If we go there, the consequences will be massive. If we go for a total lockdown it’s going to have to be considerably longer than three weeks.
“All those residents outside Malta should return at once. The tourists should leave as soon as possible.”
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