Turkey loses virus status
THE government has ‘downgraded’ Turkey to “mediumrisk” for Covid-19, putting the country into ‘category B’ in the newly-introduced immigration rules, following a spike in the virus there.
It means that any passenger travelling from Turkey to the TRNC, will be forced to undergo a 2+2 PCR test for Covid-19 – one being taken within 72-hours of travel required to board the aircraft – and another upon arrival into the TRNC to be carried out at the port of entry.
The Council of Ministers took the decision on Thursday, following reports of a spike of the virus in Turkey, with 1,492 new cases being reported by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as of yesterday.
The new “categories” – introduced on June 11, but which will come into force on July 1 – introduce three categories.
Category A includes countries such as Malta, Bulgaria, Norway, Germany, Austria, Finland, Slovenia, Hungary, Israel, Greece, Denmark and Lithuania. Passengers from these places require only a
PCR negative test report not older than 72-hours prior to the date of travelling.
Category B countries – or medium risk countries which now includes Turkey, are Switzerland, Czech Republic, Poland and Croatia.
They require the double PCR test. If the conditions are met – i.e. both PCR tests show negative – a passenger will be able to go to their place of residence. If the PCR test carried out in the TRNC returns as positive, that person will be contacted and will be taken either into supervised quarantine or hospital.
‘HIGH RISK’
Category C countries classed as ‘high risk’ includes the UK. People arriving from these countries , Russia, US, Brazil and Iran – will have to go through tight measures that includes PCR testing and a 14-day mandatory quarantine.
Deputy prime minister and foreign minister, Kudret Özersay said that the “conditions in Turkey had changed”.
He also said that the government had “passed a decision to limit the number of passengers who can come from Turkey. . .because the number of PCR tests that we can carry out on a daily basis is limited. Those who cannot show their negative PCR test results will not be allowed to check in for their flight,” he said.
The government has come under fire from opposition parties during the Parliamentary session on Thursday.
Republican Turkish Party MP Doğuş Derya asked: “Why a pandemic hospital was still to be built. On what scientific bases had the decision been made in the first place to allow passengers in from Turkey without being subject to quarantine as from July 1?”
She also claimed putting Turkey in a Category A low risk country was “purely based on politics.”
“Turkey is put as a high risk country according to the World Health Organisation,” she added.
Mr Özersay denied that they overlooked medical advice concerning Turkey, saying: “We are in crisis management. The conditions in Turkey concerning Covid-19 have changed, which forced us make the change.”