Health officials in the Republic of Cyprus are trying to regroup this week following public criticism over lack of information on vaccinated persons, with plans underway said to include cross referencing vaccination data with close contacts of infected persons and more qualitative data.

Four EU member states are excluded from Cyprus’ safest green category for travel, including Malta, which was evicted due to the country’s high-risk red classification.

The state health services organisation (Okypy) has officially launched its new revamped website on Thursday designed to facilitate the procedure of booking medical appointments online.

The presence of the Delta variant of Covid-19 in samples in Cyprus has gone up from only a few in the end of April-beginning of May to almost 100% by early July, according to the ministry of health.

Cyprus must gradually return to prudent fiscal and macroeconomic policies to bolster its economic standing, Finance Minister Constantinos Petrides said on Thursday, warning that a reversal of reforms would harm public finances and the banking sector.

Ireland’s Eurogroup President Paschal Donohoe praised Cyprus’ “impressive recovery” from the coronavirus outbreak, saying it was down to good national policies coupled with EU decisions.

Moody’s Investors Service (“Moody’s”) has on Wednesday upgraded Bank of Cyprus Public Company Limited’s (Bank of Cyprus) and Hellenic Bank Public Company Ltd’s (Hellenic Bank) long-term bank deposit ratings to B1 from B3 – indicating a moderate level of concern by the ratings agency according to the agency website.

The government will proceed with the substitution of all public sector motorcycles and motorbikes with electric vehicles. Additionally, all 225 private motorcycles and motorbikes used by the Department of Postal Services will be replaced with electric motorcycles.

The Strategy and Transactions team of EY Cyprus undertook a lead financial advisory role on behalf of the Ministry of Transport, Communications and Works (“MTCW”) of the Republic of Cyprus in the successful completion of the transaction for the re-development of the Larnaca Port and Marina area between the Government of the Republic of Cyprus and Kition Ocean Holdings Ltd.

The Amending Law to the Assessment and Collection of Taxes Law (L.126(I)/2020) has introduced an obligation on all taxpayers to submit a personal income tax return, irrespective of their income.