After two weeks of easing travel restrictions with Lebanon, Cyprus removed the country from its safe list again after its public health situation receded.
Back on June 20th, Cyprus had announced that Lebanon was among the safer countries in terms of epidemiological status, and placed it under the “Category B” travel safety level, which mandates that passengers present PCR test results before entry.
Now, the Embassy of Cyprus in Beirut announced that the country was downgraded to “Category C,” which is the category of countries to and from which travel is banned.
The decision will become effective on Monday, July 6th, and Cyprus will continue to update the list of allowed countries on a weekly basis.
In the announcement, the embassy noted that “only Cypriot nationals and holders of residence permits will be allowed to enter Cyprus, and unfortunately we have to suspend our visa services again until further notice.”
As for the Lebanese who already have flight reservations to Cyprus in place, they are advised to contact the concerned airlines.
“We deeply apologize for any inconvenience caused and we certainly hope to see Lebanon back on the list as soon as possible,” the statement concluded.
The decision to downgrade Lebanon comes after Cyprus’ Health Ministry issued a revised list of countries and their public health conditions, in which it changed the categorization of several countries.
To determine the risk level of a country, the ministry monitors its COVID-19 case numbers as they come up, its mortality rate for the disease, and several other factors in accordance with the World Health Organization’s indicators.
As of the time of writing, the Lebanese Health Ministry has confirmed a total of 1,830 cases, 503 of which are active, in addition to 35 fatalities and 1292 recoveries.
On Friday, Lebanon recorded 19 positive cases among arrivals to Beirut, two days after reopening its international airport.
The public health situation has had a direct effect on Lebanon’s 2020 tourism season, which has so far been deemed poor in comparison to last year’s.
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