Coronavirus: Student organisation calls on Cypriots not to return for Easter

A student organisation on Saturday appealed to Cypriot students studying abroad not to return for Easter in a bid to stop the spread of the coronavirus.

Prodeftiki, a Left-affiliated student organisation, said everyone’s priority at this time should be to protect public health, as it censured the government for not putting stricter measures in place to control Covid-19.

“We are appealing to all Cypriot students studying in the UK, Greece, and any other countries included in the health ministry’s directions, not to return to Cyprus yet,” a statement said.

Prodeftiki said students in those countries should self-isolate and follow the instructions issued by health authorities in those countries to the letter.

However, if any students choose to return, the state should foot the bill for putting them up in hotels, which are closed anyway, for the two-week mandatory isolation.

Priority should be given to students who live in the same house with members of vulnerable groups, the organisation said.

Students who have already come back since March 10 should also be moved to hotels if they live with other people, it said.

Prodeftiki also said Cyprus should cover the cost of treatment of any Cypriot student who may need it abroad.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.