Cyprus gives Saudi Arabia most favorable COVID-19 travel status

The eastern Mediterranean island nation was from Monday welcoming back tourists using a color-category system. Saudi Arabia has been placed in the “most favorable” green category along with countries such as Singapore, Australia, Iceland, and New Zealand.

Some 44 countries have been categorized green, orange, or red. The rest fall into the grey category, whose citizens would require special permission to travel to Cyprus.

The Kingdom was placed in the green category because of its swift response to the virus outbreak by enforcing curfews, travel bans, and creating equal access testing and vaccination centers.

Any passengers arriving in Cyprus from Saudi Arabia will not have to undergo any quarantine or self-isolation period. There will also be no requirement for them to hold a COVID-19 test certificate, although during March they will have to take a COVID-19 test provided free by the Cyprus health ministry.

The ranking system places countries by their number of cases and potential exposure to those arriving from them, and list will be updated weekly.

Tourism underpins the Cypriot economy with almost 4 million tourists visiting in 2019.