Coronavirus: Ministry outlines how ex-Covid patients will get SMS for SafePass

People who contracted and recovered from Covid-19 in the last six months must have reported it to the Surveillance and Control Unit for Infectious Diseases (ES&CUID) within a “reasonable amount of time” from the diagnosis to ensure a SafePass, the health ministry said on Thursday.

In a clarification announcement regarding the new measure, the ministry said that people can obtain a SafePass by presenting the SMS proving they have recovered from the virus within the last six months if they have reported their illness to the ES&CUID of the health ministry.

The personal doctor, or the contact tracing team where a person is not a Gesy beneficiary, is responsible for informing the unit, the announcement said.

Hence only those who tested positive with a rapid or PCR test by laboratories approved by the ministry will receive the SMS and the SafePass.

People who tested positive for coronavirus with a self-test will not receive the SMS.

The SMS is sent automatically by the ministry’s platform.

It is valid for 180 days, excluding the time, 14 or 20 days, the positive case was self-isolating. The period of validity is mentioned in the SMS.

Those who recovered before the implementation of the measure will be receiving an SMS this week, the deputy minister of innovation Kyriacos Kokkinos had told the Sunday Mail.

People who are hospitalised will receive an SMS as soon as they are released from the hospital, the health ministry said.

Meanwhile, if a permanent resident of Cyprus was abroad while testing positive they must provide a certificate from an official body including their identification details.

The health ministry reiterated that an antibodies test for Covid-19 is not sufficient to ensure a SafePass.

In case a person meets the above conditions but was not sent an SMS they may complete a formal declaration available only in Greek and email it to [email protected].

SafePass is a national measure implemented on May 10 which allows people entry into hospitality venues, places of religious worship, outdoor and indoor theatres, cinemas, and performing arts venues, malls and department stores, weddings, funerals, and christenings, gyms, dance and other schools, care homes and other similar facilities, hotels, election gatherings in theatres, amphitheatres, hospitality venues, and homes, conferences and trade shows, and casinos.

Apart from proof they had the virus in the past six months, people can also use as a SafePass a certificate of vaccination with at least one dose three weeks prior or the negative result of a test taken in the past 72 hours.