‘Bars and restaurants should accept strict measures now to avoid problems in the summer’

The strict measures in place in Cyprus are still necessary considering the increasingly worrying epidemiological situation, president of the Federation of Leisure Centre Owners Association (Osika) Neophytos Thrasyvoulou said on Tuesday.

Speaking to the Cyprus News Agency, Thrasyvoulou said it would be preferable for bars, restaurants and clubs to have shorter operating hours during the Christmas period to have a fresh start in 2021 and prepare for the summer season.

“We all need to remember that we are a country that relies heavily on tourism,” he said. “Therefore, we must prioritise the summer period and aim to have a coronavirus-free environment by the start of the tourist season.

“Relaxing the measures now might end up doing more damage to leisure centres in the long run,” he said.

Thrasyvoulou’s comments are in stark contrast to what his opinion on the measures was at the beginning of November, when he said that “earlier closure times for bars and restaurants will be contested as they will put plenty of people out of work.”

His comments, however, came at a time when Cyprus’ epidemiological situation was far better than the one registered over the last few weeks.

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.