Cyprus exempts Saudi tourists from coronavirus quarantine measures

Eager to reopen to tourists even during the COVID-19 pandemic and with a lockdown being eased, Cyprus will admit visitors from Saudi Arabia who won’t have to face a quarantine.

That’s because Saudi Arabia was deemed to be a low-risk country for spreading the Coronavirus, the site Albawaba said, as Cyprus opened its borders on March 1 with a color-coding system that has different levels of requirements for entry.

With 44 countries categorized and travelers from there allowed in, Saudi Arabia has been placed in the “most favorable” green category along with countries such as Singapore, Australia, Iceland, and New Zealand.

The rest fall into the grey category, whose citizens would require special permission to travel to Cyprus but the hard-hit United Kingdom - the country’s former Colonial ruler - was deemed to be safe despite its record in dealing with the pandemic.

UK visitors are crucial to the island’s staggering economy and there are some 62,000 British expatriates living on the island who come under the purview of the legitimate government that belongs to the EU although some live on the northern third occupied by Turkey since an unlawful 1974 invasion.

Any passengers arriving in Cyprus from Saudi Arabia will not have to undergo any quarantine or self-isolation period nor even have a COVID-19 certificate proving they’ve been vaccinated, giving them special treatment.

But during March they will have to take a COVID-19 test provided free by the Cyprus Health Ministry. Tourism is crucial to Cyprus, with some four million visitors arriving in 2019 before the 2020 downfall brought by the Coronavirus' lingering effects.

Read more at thenationalherald.com

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