Cyprus Allows Entry to Arrivals from Lebanon, Italy, Spain

Cyprus further eased its coronavirus entry restrictions Friday, adding hard-hit EU partners Italy and Spain, and nearby Lebanon, to a list of countries allowed entry, but holding back on its two biggest markets.

Flights will now be allowed from over 30 countries across two categories, up from 19 when a commercial passenger flight ban ended earlier this month.

According to the Health Ministry, 22 countries are now considered low-risk, including Greece, Germany, Austria, Bulgaria, South Korea and Australia, while another 12, including France, Italy, Belgium, Spain, Lebanon and Israel, are in a higher-risk category.

From Saturday, only travelers arriving from countries in the second category will be required to provide proof of a negative COVID-19 test undertaken within 72 hours of travel, or on arrival if unavailable in the departure country.

That requirement had previously applied to arrivals from both lists.

But Cyprus' two biggest tourist markets, the United Kingdom and Russia, have yet to be included in either category.

"It's a dynamic list based on the (epidemiological) data registered for each country," Health Minister Constantinos Ioannou told a press conference Friday.

If novel coronavirus cases rise in a country in the first category, "it will be downgraded to category B, and vice versa."

The categories are updated weekly.

Israel was recently relegated to the higher-risk category after it saw an increase in cases.

The health minister said there would also be random coronavirus checks on arrival.

"We're expecting 1,500 travelers to arrive daily, so we will carry out around 300 random tests every day," Ioannou said.

"This is to get a better understanding of the situation and to review our decisions concerning some countries, if necessary."

Cyprus has reported 985 total coronavirus cases and 19 deaths, and is looking to restart its vital tourism sector. Lebanon has meanwhile registers 1,510 cases and 32 deaths.

Transport Minister Yiannis Karousos told state radio that he expected the number of flights to increase to around 500 per week in July.

But the government expects visitor numbers to be down by 70 percent this year due to the pandemic, after counting almost four million arrivals in 2019.

As part of a further easing of restrictions, Nicosia said it would reopen most crossings along the divided Mediterranean island's ceasefire line to Cypriot citizens and residents on Sunday.

It said those crossing would have to provide proof they were free from COVID-19.