Coronavirus: Oev, Keve object to businesses having to use CovScan

The responsibility to abide by CovScan rules should fall exclusively on the public, not businesses, the Cyprus Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Keve) and the Employers and Industrialists Federation (Oev) said on Tuesday.

Last week cabinet decided that SafePass checks are to be made electronically through the CovScan application as of Monday, but the health ministry clarified a grace period would be in place until November 22.

Businesses have been encouraged to start using CovScan to make sure they are ready before the deadline.

In a joint letter to Health Minister Michalis Hadjipantelas, Keve president Christodoulos Angastiniotis and Oev president Antonis Antoniou acknowledged that the new measure could contribute to more accurate employee checks in businesses where the SafePass is mandatory.

However, they clarified that while employers are happy to use CovScan to check employees, “it should be a given that when it comes to the public/visitors/customers, the responsibility for keeping to this measure, or any other measure, should fall on them, and under no circumstances on the business”.

An Oev spokesperson told the Cyprus Mail that this is largely a logistical issue as it involves downloading the application, making sure a business owner has the appropriate devices to support it, and having a dedicated staff member just for scans, among other issues.

She added that both Oev and Keve are in talks with the health ministry and expecting a response in the next few days.