Coronavirus: Greens want 8998 scrapped

Cyprus Greens slammed the government on Wednesday for continuing to impose the “draconian” measure which forces citizens to send an SMS and secure approval from the state before going out.

The party demanded the immediate end of the system and the “excessive restrictions” in the movement of residents, saying people have “reached their limits”.

“The Government must stop…depriving [people] of basic human rights under the pretext of stopping the pandemic,” the Greens said.

The party said they understand the seriousness of the pandemic, but the psychological state of people must also be taken into account.

The system of obtaining permission by SMS was first introduced last year, lifted and then reintroduced last November. Residents are currently allowed one outing per day.

Cyprus and Greece are the only European countries to enforce this measure, Greece is expected to scrap it on May 15.

The Greens said no research was done to ensure the effectiveness of the system, which is the reason why no other country has enforced it.