Coronavirus: Slovakia gets upgrade from Red to Orange

Slovakia’s upgrade from the Red to the Orange category was the only change to the revised country assessment for travel issued by the health ministry on Monday.

The ministry also issued clarifications about the arrival of vaccinated tourists.

The updated list will be in effect from Thursday, May 13.

According to the list, Israel, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Saudi Arabia and South Korea remain in the Green category. Passengers arriving from these countries do not need to present a negative PCR test upon arrival or self-isolate.

Portugal, Ireland, Finland, Malta, Slovakia, Iceland, Norway, China (including Hong Kong and Macau), the UK and Thailand are in the Orange category.

Passengers from Orange category countries must take a PCR test within 72 hours prior to their departure with a negative result. Cypriot citizens, their spouses and children, people residing permanently in the Republic and people allowed to enter the country based on the Vienna Convention, and people in countries where PCR tests are not provided, may get tested upon arrival at the Larnaca and Paphos airports. They need to self-isolate until the PCR results are ready. The test cost is covered by passengers.

In the Red category are Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, France, Croatia, Luxembourg, Romania, Spain, Italy, Greece, Netherlands, Hungary, Poland, Denmark, Slovenia, Czechia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Sweden, Germany, Andorra, Monaco, Vatican City, San Marino, Switzerland, Lichtenstein, Rwanda, Russia, UAE, Ukraine, Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt, Belarus, Qatar, Serbia, US, Armenia, Georgia and Bahrain.

Passengers from Red category countries are required to undergo a PCR test within 72 hours prior to departure and undergo another PCR test upon arrival in the Republic of Cyprus. They must remain in self isolation until the result is issued. The cost of the test is covered by the passengers. Cypriot citizens, their spouses and children, people residing permanently in the Republic, and people allowed to enter the country based on the Vienna Convention may get tested upon arrival at the Larnaca and Paphos airports. They need to self-isolate until the PCR results are ready. The test cost is covered by passengers.

In such cases, they need to self-isolate for 72 hours after their arrival and get another PCR test after this period expires. If their test result is negative they must send their results to [email protected] to be discharged from self-isolation.

Passengers from countries not mentioned above, must get special permission to arrive in Cyprus.

The health ministry recalled that as of Monday, fully vaccinated tourists are exempt from providing a negative PCR test to enter the country and self-isolate upon arrival.

This concerns people bearing a valid vaccination certificate issued by the authorities of EU member states, the European Economic Area (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway), Switzerland, Israel, the UK, Russia, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Ukraine, Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt, Belarus, Serbia, Qatar, Bahrain, United States, Armenia, Georgia, Canada, and Kuwait.

They must be fully vaccinated with one of the vaccines approved by the European Medicines Agency (Pfizer/BioNTech, AstraZeneca, Moderna, Janssen) or with the Sputnik V.

In the case of two-dose vaccines the person should have received both doses, while in the case of the Janssen vaccine which is a single-dose jab, 14 days should have elapsed between the inoculation and the date of travel. More information is available at https://cyprusflightpass.gov.cy/en/vaccinated-passengers.

All passengers need to file an application to CyprusFlightPass before their flight to Cyprus.

The health ministry said that random testing continues at the Larnaca and Paphos airports including among people with vaccination certificates.