TARGETED CONTROLS BY THE SERVICES

 Filenews 10 October 2020 - by  Marilena Panagi

They're running to catch up with the worst of the relevant government agencies. They are reorganized, review the way in which they supervise the classroom, regroup, proceed to work-sharing and begin intensive checks in all kinds of premises and places where there is overcrowding. In the battle to comply with the regulations, services and departments of almost all Ministries are now being thrown in, while local government is also active.

The new resurgence of the pandemic on the island is not considered at all unrelated to the relaxation observed in the last weeks of August and the first weeks of September, both by the citizens, but also by the competent state authorities which are responsible for ensuring the implementation of the health protocols and related decrees in force.

Admittedly, a competent police source in 'F', at the end of September, a relative inaction had been recorded with regard to the carrying out of checks and monitoring the implementation of health protocols, in places where citizens congregate, while the fact that inspections in places such as gyms, private schools, sports centres, dance/karate schools, etc. were minimal or non-existent, caused particular concern to the competent health authorities.

The rise of the contagion index in Cypriot society, the increase in cases recorded daily throughout Cyprus and the consequent increase in the number of people admitted to hospitals and Intensive Care Units, oblige the Ministry of Health to take action. The concern is also exacerbated by the length of time we are going through, since there are fears that the coexistence of the pandemic with seasonal infections and especially with seasonal influenza, if the necessary measures are not taken in time, will lead Cyprus to the dismal levels already recorded in other European countries.

"Our only weapon, the faithful observance of protection measures and health protocols", stressed the Minister of Health, Konstantinos Ioannou, speaking to "F", while noting that "for the effort to succeed there must be cooperation from everyone, including citizens".

As a Ministry, said Konstantinos Ioannou, "we have prepared and approved more than 90 health protocols, while on 30 September a wide-ranging meeting was held under the responsibility of the Epidemiological Surveillance Unit of Infectious Diseases and all the sites to be checked were recorded and at the same time, work was shared so that each department, each Ministry, would assume its own role in the whole effort".

At the same time as the division of labour, the Minister of Health added, "other decisions have been taken such as the designation of a "security officer" in each Office, the training of these officers and the procedure to be followed at the end of each week and provides that all the Departments concerned must complete a special form setting out the actions they have taken and then reporting it to the Ministry of Health so that everyone knows where the progress of the compliance with health protocols by the various undertakings, etc., as well as by the citizens themselves'. To facilitate all the officers involved in the audit process, Mr. Ioannou said "a total of 25 auxiliary forms were prepared and forwarded to all the departments involved, including the Ministry of Education"

The problem, the health minister said, "is not that until now no checks were carried out. They were carried out by both the Police and the Health Services of the Ministry of Health, however, we seem to detect some gaps and a malfunction in the whole effort for this and we proceeded with the integration of all the services involved and the local government in the process of monitoring the implementation of the protocols in order to make it better, more systematic and certainly that right work".

According to the plan drawn up by the Ministry of Health and agreed at the meeting of 30 September:

- On construction sites – manufacturing and retail trade (including shopping centres), checks will be carried out by the Department of Labour Inspection. In retail, the Consumer Protection Agency will also be involved in carrying out the checks.

- Hotels/tourist accommodations, hairdressers, barbershops, beauty centres, ports, airports, concert venues and other food businesses such as pastry shops, food preparations, catering services (including those with music), sports venues and gyms, will be checked by the health services of the Ministry of Health. In hotels and tourist accommodation, the Ministry of Tourism will also be involved in the controls.

- In sports venues together with the health services, the police and local authorities will also be involved in carrying out the checks.

- In the catering services, in addition to the health services of the Ministry of Health, the relevant municipalities and the Police will be responsible for carrying out checks.

- Furthermore, in popular markets and bazaars, checks will be carried out by the Department of Agriculture and the local authorities.

- In schools, children's clubs, private kindergartens, nurseries, dance schools, private schools, the responsibility for carrying out audits will be the responsibility of the Ministry of Education which will also carry out checks in cooperation with local authorities and libraries.

- In museums and archaeological sites, the responsibility is assumed by the Department of Antiquities.

- Local authorities and municipal authorities will have responsibility in playgrounds and theatres.

- In the betting agencies the checks will be carried out by the police.

Banned concerts and theatrical performances

Checks on sports venues, concerts and theatres have already begun and according to health service data from 1 September to the end of last week, a total of 64 inspections had been carried out.

Twenty-six checks involved football matches and other sporting meetings. In one case it was issued out of court after it was found that there was no list of the fans' details.

Twenty audits were carried out in concerts, theatre/music/dance performances and in cinemas. In two cases, a concert and a theatrical performance were prevented because it was found that the relevant Decrees did not apply.

Six checks were carried out in churches and in two cases the presence of itinerants in solemn temples was prevented.

The planning prepared and the involvement of all departments of the Ministries involved in the effort to monitor the implementation of health protocols is one aspect of the effort. Relaxation in compliance with protection measures is general and characterizes the entire Cypriot society, in all its activities and events. The non-application of protocols, protection rules and related decrees is imperative. Good decisions made and proper planning. It is now still necessary to ensure that what has been decided is faithfully implemented, so that the phenomena of the previous period are not observed again when the competent services themselves were also seduced by the general climate of relaxation. The obligation for everyone to be held accountable on a weekly basis for their actions is a very good start.

B.P.