Cyprus hotels rethinking reopening following Israel's coronavirus spike

Cypriot health authorities categorized Israel as a higher risk country following the spike in cases - from Category A to Category B.

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Cyprus Hotel (photo credit: MOTTI VERSES)
Cyprus Hotel
(photo credit: MOTTI VERSES)
Hotels in Cyprus are debating whether to open up hotels in July after Israel reported spikes in the number of people diagnosed with the coronavirus in recent weeks, according to the Financial Mirror.
Cypriot health authorities categorized Israel as a higher risk country following the spike in cases - from Category A to Category B, which means that tourists travelling from Israel will need to take coronavirus tests before arriving in the country, whereas for a Category A country, such tests would not be required.
“Hoteliers are thinking twice over opening their units in July because there are no reservations. Tourists from Israel will only be coming for a three or four-day holiday,” said chairman of the Cyprus Hoteliers Association’s (CHA) Famagusta branch, Doros Takas, according to the Financial Mirror.
Cyprus says decisions about whom to let in are based on the epidemiological data. Visitors from Russia and Britain, which are Cyprus's main markets, are not yet included, though Savvas Perdios, the deputy tourism minister, said he expected that to happen in mid-July.
Cyprus reopened its airports last Tuesday after almost three months of lockdown, hoping its record in dealing with the coronavirus pandemic and a pledge of free medical treatment for any COVID-19 cases will lure tourists back to its beaches.
Heavily reliant on tourism, Cyprus announced a lockdown soon after its first cases on March 9. Around 7.4% of Cyprus' 3.4 million annual visitors stem from Israel, according to the Financial Mirror.
Initially, arrivals were to be restricted to people who have tested COVID-19 free from a few countries including Germany, Israel and Greece. The requirement was meant be dropped for that group on June 20. However, with Israel's new classification that has all changed, according to the Financial Mirror.
“If the situation is not reversed with flights resuming as usual (without passengers required to carry a health certificate), then hotels in Ayia Napa will not be opening before 10 July," owner of Adams Beach Hotel and Adams Beach Hotel Deluxe, Christos Kitazos, told Stockwatch, according to the Financial Mirror. "If it is below 30% it means that hoteliers will suffer losses, 2020 is one of the most difficult years for the industry."
Cyprus has cumulatively had fewer than a 1,000 coronavirus cases since the beginning of the outbreak, and only 17 deaths according to Johns Hopkins University's coronavirus tally.
Israel began returning to a new normal in the past month, with the reopening of the economy as the rate of infection continued to drop by the day. However, in recent weeks, the number of patients spiked to around 200 new cases a day.
Zachary Keyser and Reuters contributed to this report.


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