HOLD OFF ANY PLANS FOR SEPTEMBER MASS GATHERINGS, WEDDINGS, HEALTH MINISTRY WARNS

Cyprus Mail 22 July 2020 - by Jean Christou

The health ministry on Wednesday urged organisers planning social gatherings, including concerts, festivals and weddings from September 1, to hold off for now as a decision on the full lifting of restrictions on such events will not be made until after that.

According to a statement from the ministry of health, citing estimates by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), the organisation of mass social events without restrictions, at this stage, holds an extremely high risk of Covid transmission.

“Therefore, the holding of such events where many people gather and the observance of hygiene and social distancing is impossible, are prohibited,” a statement said.

The ministry said that based on the recommendations of the ECDC and the WHO, the possible occurrence of cases at large open events makes contact tracing particularly difficult and also makes it harder to control the spread of the virus.

Both agencies, it added,  also speak of a high risk of derailment of the situation in countries with a fairly good epidemiological picture, such as Cyprus, given that there is currently no vaccine against Covid-19, nor any drug treatment for its prevention.

“As recommended by the relevant international and European bodies, the possibility of lifting restrictions on mass and social events should be considered after September,” the ministry added.

“Therefore, people are advised not to plan to conduct such events from September 1 as a final decision has not been taken and not heeding decrees on this is a violation,” it warned.

The fact that Cyprus maintains positive epidemiological indicators and the situation in the country is controlled and that so far there have not been any setbacks such as other countries have seen, is due to the fact that Cyprus has followed from the beginning the recommendations of the competent organisations and moved ahead with a targeted and slow lifting of the restrictive measures, the ministry said.

“In order for the good epidemiological picture to be maintained, we all have individual and collective responsibility and we must behave seriously, respecting the rules,” it concluded.