Coronavirus: USA, Malta and Romania get category upgrade

The USA, Malta and Romania were on Monday upgraded while Thailand was downgraded in Cyprus’ new categorisations for arrivals, effective from May 27.

Malta will move to the green category, while Romania and the USA were upgraded to orange and Thailand downgraded to the red category, the health ministry said.

Also in the Green category are Iceland, Israel, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Saudi Arabia and South Korea. Passengers from those countries do not require to present a negative coronavirus test nor to self-isolate.

Portugal, Ireland, Finland, Romania, Norway, China (including Hong Kong and Macau), the UK and the USA are now 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, Spain, Italy, Greece, Netherlands, Hungary, Poland, Denmark, Slovakia, Slovenia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Sweden, Germany, Andorra, Monaco, Vatican City, San Marino, Switzerland, Lichtenstein, Rwanda, Russian, UAE, Ukraine, Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt, Belarus, Qatar, Serbia, 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 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 the results to [email protected] to be discharged from self-isolation.

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

All passengers need to file an application to CyprusFlightPass before their flight to Cyprus. The document could be used as a substitute to the national SafePass allowing tourists to visit indoor crowded venues such as shopping malls, restaurants and cafés among others.

The health ministry reiterated that country categories are continuously reviewed.