The Council of Ministers announced on Thursday that it was separating arrivals in the TRNC as of July 1 into three different categories.
The list of countries designated as A, B or C – considered safest by comparison – will be updated at least once a week according to epidemiological results and data obtained by the health ministry and the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Category A
Includes Malta, Bulgaria, Norway, Germany, Austria, Finland, Hungary, Slovenia, Israel, Greece, Turkey, Lithuania and Denmark.
All individuals arriving from these countries will have to present a negative PCR tests carried out 72 hours before arrival.
Category B
Includes Switzerland, the Czech Republic, Poland, and Croatia.
Individuals arriving from any of these countries will have to have two PCR test done, one before arriving and one after arriving in the TRNC.
Category C
Includes the US, the Russian Federation, Brazil, Iran and the UK. Visitors from these countries will have to present a negative PCR test and will be placed in quarantine for 14-days, the cost of which will be covered by the individuals themselves.
Greek Cypriots who will be crossing into the TRNC as of July 1 will have to present a negative PCR test before their first crossing.
Individuals will be subject to random tests.
The same will apply for Turkish Cypriots working, studying or receiving medical treatment in the South, TRNC citizens living in Pile (Pyla) as well as Maronites and Greek Cypriots living in the Karpaz peninsula.
They will be allowed to cross the border as of June 22.
The Council of Ministers spokesperson Kudret Özersay on Thursday said that on June 22 it will be 14 days since the Greek Cypriot side opened its airports allowing the arrival of passengers without people going into quarantine.
By that date, he said, the picture will be clear as regards the coronavirus situation and it will show how risky or not the opening by the south to passengers from abroad has been.
The Council of Ministers also announced that university students arriving from Turkey between June 15 and July 1 will be placed in quarantine for testing and if tested negative will then be moved to university campuses where they will remain for the duration of 14 days.
Özersay announced that the students will not be required to cover the cost of their accommodation as this was the responsibility of the Ministry of National Education and Culture.
Meanwhile, charter flights will be arranged to repatriate TRNC citizens in Turkey next week.
A flight will be arranged from Istanbul on Monday and Ankara on Tuesday.
Priority will be given to citizens receiving medical treatment in Turkey and who are unfit to travel by ferry.
All arriving citizens will be placed in 14 day mandatory quarantine.
BRT