Last week, transport minister Yiannis Karousos said a new Covid "action plan" would come into effect from 1 March 2021.

The new measures, said Karousos, will allow for "the gradual resumption of flights and the reopening of airports" according to four colour-coded categories applied to all source markets.

Anyone who has been vaccinated will be exempt from providing evidence of a pre-travel negative Covid test or taking a test on arrival as per an explicit provision in the action plan.

Under the proposals, approved by the country’s council of ministers on Thursday (3 December), Cyprus’s three-tier country categorisation will be expanded to four tiers, with those arriving from "green" countries exempt from any restrictions.

Arrivals from orange countries will be required to provide evidence of a negative PCR test taken up to 72 hours prior to departure, while those arriving from red countries will be required to test negative before they travel and on arrival.

A new "grey" category will require arrivals to test negative up to 72 hours prior to departure, and also self-isolate on arrival in-line with health ministry guidances.

These categories will align with those dictated by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. For those countries not assessed by the centre, categories will be assigned by Cyprus’s health ministry.