Cyprus gets rid of required COVID-19 tests for visitors
May 26, 2022, 9:56 PM | Updated: May 27, 2022, 9:57 am
NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — Travelers to Cyprus will no longer be required to show either a valid COVID-19 vaccination or a recovery certificate and won’t need to produce a negative recent COVID-19 test of June 1, the Cypriot government said Friday.
The government also decided to abolish a requirement to wear face masks in all indoor areas in Cyprus as of June 1 with the exception of hospitals, nursing homes and other indoor medical facilities.
Transport Minister Yiannis Karousos said the decision to lift COVID-19 screening requirements at airports signals the tourism-reliant island nation is ready to return to normality.
Over 10% of the island’s gross domestic product comes directly from tourism. Authorities are hopeful that a post-pandemic desire for travel will boost arrivals to Cyprus significantly, despite the loss of a significant number of Russian and Ukrainian holidaymakers as a result of the war in Ukraine.
Karousos said the estimate of travelers arriving in Cyprus in May will be more than three-quarters of the same month in 2019, when arrivals hit a record yearly high.
“Not only will we meet the target we had set regarding flight capacity and overall passenger numbers, we will surpass it,” he said.
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