Schools, gyms, and indoor dining facilities will remain open at the British bases despite such services being shuttered across the Republic.

As of Tuesday morning, the bases have recorded 76 Covid-19 cases while 27,638 have been identified in the Republic.

“Broadly, we are in step with the Republic of Cyprus and we are working through all the measures that were announced on Friday to give our people that clarity,” Major General Rob Thomson, Commander British Forces Cyprus, told Forces News.

Two main reasons were given by Thomson for keeping schools and other services operational, namely the relatively low number of cases at the bases and the nature of the community which comprises many essential workers.

“We’ve made the decision that the schools are safe for our children,” Thomson said.

“Many of our people are key workers and they’ve got to be able to send their children to school and we’ve got the right protocols in place,” he said.

“We have kept our gyms open. We’re all soldiers, sailors and airmen here – we’ve got to stay fit.”

Those from the bases wishing to travel into and across the Republic will first have to receive permission to do so via the SMS system.