Irish holidaymakers headed for Cyprus on or after July 8 will be subject to new Covid restrictions as health officials work to slow the current spread.
Authorities have reintroduced the mandatory use of face masks at indoor venues for everyone aged over 12 as the country deals with a major spike in cases, according to the island's health ministry.
The new rule will come into effect tomorrow, Friday, July 8, after being announced by Health Minister Michalis Hadjipantela.
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Although authorities were hesitant about bringing back the need for face masks as the peak tourist season gets underway - fearing that many people will opt to holiday elsewhere - with cases ticking upward, officials had to move fast.
The latest statistics show that the health ministry has recorded a whopping 19,503 positive cases from 25 June to 5 July - with a population of around 1.2 million.
Mask-wearing had only been dropped in Cyprus on June 1 and marked the final easing after a long period of Covid rules to halt the spread of infection.
Mr. Hadjipantela said this move came due to the increase in Covid-related hospital cases and said one of the contributing factors was that there are people going about their day-to-day lives without any masks.
Back on June 28, face masks were reintroduced in pharmacies, clinical labs, and at government testing sites for Covid, as well as for visiting hospitals, nursing homes, and when taking public transport.
Similar to what is being seen in Ireland and elsewhere across the globe, Cyprus’s latest surge of infection comes as a result of the highly infectious Omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5.
Since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, in March 2020, Cyprus has recorded 515,596 infections and 1,075 deaths.
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