Covid-19 Update as of 6th Of October
Dear Clients, Associates and Friends
With the summer now past us and winter fast approaching, Covid-19 is very much still on everyone’s mind. The actual number of incidents in Cyprus is still relatively low but has been increasing following the summer / tourist season and people gradually increasing their travels. As a result, some areas of Cyprus are subject to local increased measures whilst travel restrictions and other pre-cautions are still in place. These include:
- Use of face masks and sanitisers in all enclosed public areas (shops, supermarkets etc.)
- Recommendations for use of face masks in work places (including schools from certain ages onwards)
- Limitations on the number of persons that may be present in enclosed public areas / public access areas.
- Restrictions on flights / entry from countries with high incident rates.
- Obligatory registration online before any flight / entry into Cyprus (via https://cyprusflightpass.gov.cy/).
Above website and https://www.pio.gov.cy/coronavirus/en/index.html contain useful links and updates on the Covid-19 situation in Cyprus. The private and public sectors, including our Firm, Banks and other institutions, continue operating normally, subject to restrictions on visits from the public.
At SP&Co we implemented Firm-wide prevention and containment plans, issued relevant instructions to all personnel and put in place a Business Continuity Plan. These include (unless necessitated by extraordinary circumstances): (a) suspension of business travel and mandatory testing / self-isolation for those returning from holiday from abroad, (b) suspension of face to face meetings in or outside our offices, substituting them with telcon or videocalls (utilising existing infrastructure), (c) mandatory use of face mask and sanitiser upon entry to our offices by everyone (including by employees, unless seated at their workspaces), (d) enhanced hygiene, distancing and containment measures and policies, in line with best practices, and (e) maintaining all required technical infrastructure to allow almost all of us to work from home.
It follows that the direct impact on our business is under control and we continue to operate normally. Having said this, due to the inevitable absences from work and visitor limits (either to our offices or to public sector departments where such personal attendances are required) we anticipate delays to our work (e.g. in dealing with the Registrar of companies, execution of or apostilling of documents, banking or immigration matters, Court work etc.). We will do our outmost to keep any delays to a minimum while at the same time protecting our personnel and operations from any outbreak and look forward to your understanding and co-operation.
We also would like to take the opportunity to wish you to be safe and healthy and look forward to our overcoming this pandemic together, fully and as swiftly as possible.
Sincerely
Kyriacos Scordis
Managing Partner
SCORDIS, PAPAPETROU & CO