TRNC COUNCIL OF MINISTERS’ DECISIONS (12-19 APRIL)

The Council of Ministers took a series of decisions covering the dates of 12-19 April in line with the decisions taken by the Contagious Diseases Supreme Committee. Within the framework of the decision taken, a curfew will be imposed on Monday-Saturday between 22:00 and 05:00, and between 22:00 and Monday 05:00 on Saturday, except for meeting basic needs.
? On Sundays:
All businesses and activities will be closed, except for pharmacies, bakeries, gas stations and agriculture, animal husbandry and industrial enterprises connected to them.
? On Monday-Saturday:
Markets will be open between 07:00 and 21:00.
Retail and merchandising services, restaurants and all services / sectors that are not specified as closed will serve between 10:00 and 21:00.
? Closed Places:
Cinema halls, engagement-wedding halls, birthdays, mevlids, casinos, bars, taverns, hookah cafes and lounges, all kinds of game halls, indoor playgrounds, internet cafes, massage rooms, spa, open buffet restaurants, night clubs, clubs, Turkish bath, saunas.
? Open Places:
All institutions and organizations will return to their normal working order within the framework of pandemic rules.
All businesses and activities that are not stated implicitly can be open under the conditions stated below.
There will be no product trials in the clothing industry.
The supply chain is carried out including order taking, shelf arrangement and display. It has been decided to perform all transactions between 08:00 and 21:00.
In open businesses, an arrangement will be made so that the total of customers and employees will be 1 person in a maximum of 5 m2. In order to protect the social distance, these enterprises will be made more active by placing a plate on the entrances of the enterprises regarding the m2 areas and the total number of people that can be in the enterprise, including employees.
? Regarding the PCR Tests:
The screening of all institutions / organizations and sectors not specified in the decisions taken below will be randomly performed by the Ministry of Health.
Sectors that are open will be audited by the associations they are affiliated with and the District Police Boards.
Businesses will sign the commitment forums to be held and legal action will be initiated against the relevant institution in case the specified rules are not followed.
? Decisions Taken:

1. It has been decided to remove controlled passes to Lefke-Güzelyurt-İskele-Famagusta districts.
2. Public transportation will be available in all districts within and between districts. Bus, minibus, taxi etc. Passengers will not be admitted to the driver’s side of the vehicles engaged in transportation. In buses, minibuses and minibuses, the passengers will be transported with a seating arrangement so that the back seat of the passengers’ driver’s seat is empty and 50% capacity will be operated with one empty and one full.
3. Windows will be open during the journey, air conditioning will not be used and everyone in the vehicle will wear a mask. Vehicles will be disinfected after each time.
4. In addition, a commitment form will be signed by the business owners of public transport and taxi enterprises engaged in public transportation. If it is determined that the rules specified in the commitment forms are not complied with, criminal action will be imposed on them in accordance with the relevant legislation.
5. It is obligatory to comply with the social distance rule in all open institutions and workplaces, to make markings in order to maintain the social distance to these workplaces in line with square meters, and to apply hygiene and disinfection conditions both inside the workplace and in the entrances and exits, and it is the responsibility of the employer to take and implement these measures.
6. In public and private schools, it has been deemed appropriate that all pre-school, primary and secondary education (except 12th grade) (including classroom, study, private lessons and course activities) continue online until the next decision. Schools will be screened with antigen tests.
7. Teachers and staff working in kindergartens (3,4,5 years old) and 12th grades will repeat antigen tests every seven days at the specified stations.
8. It has been deemed appropriate for people residing in Northern Cyprus and transiting to Southern Cyprus for treatment purposes, if they document their appointments at the border gates, they can cross to Southern Cyprus without daily quarantine. The patient and his attendant (if necessary) who will be transferring for health purposes are required to submit the negative PCR test results made within the last 3 days upon arrival. In addition, patients and companions returning to our country after the treatment should perform PCR tests again on the seventh and fourteenth days of their entry into the country and submit the results to our Ministry.
9. It has been deemed appropriate for people residing in Southern Cyprus and transiting to Northern Cyprus for treatment purposes to enter our country without daily quarantine, provided that they submit their negative PCR test results within the last 3 days if they document their appointments at the border gates.
10. Within the scope of the Green Line Regulation, it has been deemed appropriate for people doing business in Southern Cyprus to trade without quarantine until 21:00, provided that they submit their official documents regarding trade. Trade persons are required to submit negative PCR tests within the last 7 days.
11. Without quarantine, ambulances will be able to transit through the Yeşilırmak Border Gate for health purposes only. Crossings other than this will be subject to quarantine.
12. Persons residing or working in Pile will be able to make a daily pass without quarantine, provided that they submit negative PCR test results within the last 7 days. In addition, in order to meet the needs of the people residing in Pile, it has been deemed appropriate for the employees operating in our country to transfer to Pile, if the employees submit the negative PCR test results within the last 48 hours, they are deemed appropriate to make a daily transition.
13. UN, EU, British Bases, Buffer Zone, Missing Persons and Peace Corps employees will be able to enter without quarantine, provided that they submit negative PCR test results within the last 7 days.
14. When the diplomats are not with them, the diplomatic mission drivers submit the negative PCR test results in the last 7 days, without quarantine, document transportation, route determination, etc. They will be able to login for a maximum of 2 hours for jobs.
15. It was decided that funerals would be held with the participation of only first-degree relatives, taking into account the social distance rule.
16. Persons residing in the North and working in Southern Cyprus or working in Southern Cyprus and working in the North will be able to make a daily pass without quarantine, provided that they submit the negative PCR test results in the last 7 days.
17. Barbers, hairdressers, beauty salons and tattoo studios / salons will continue their work between 07:00 and 20:00. People working in these sectors will repeat antigen tests every seven days. Employees who need to repeat their routine tests before 13.04.2021 will perform PCR tests. In addition, the prepared commitment forms will be signed and businesses that are found to be not complied with the specified rules will be closed.
18. Mass meetings; Using one-third of the closed areas, masks will be worn during prayers, paying attention to social distance and hygiene rules, ventilation of the environment to ensure clean air flow, and registration of entrances will be carried out within the scope of the rules.
19. Considering the quarantine capacity, the Ministry of Finance will accept passengers on flights to our country with a maximum of 4 flights per day and a maximum of 200 people on each flight, provided that the people coming to our country remain in quarantine, and a maximum of 2 flights per day and each time. It is deemed necessary to accept passengers with 75 people (excluding soldiers).
20. It has been deemed appropriate for the people residing in Beyarmudu to make a daily pass without quarantine in order to perform their livestock and agriculture activities in the Buffer Zone and Bases Region.
21. The takeout services of restaurants, patisseries, cafes and taverns will continue to be used, and a maximum of one third of the outdoor and indoor areas. However, hookah will not be used in the specified sectors. Persons working in these sectors will repeat antigen tests every seven days, starting from 13.04.2021. In addition, a letter of undertaking will be signed by these sectors and if it is determined that the specified rules are not complied with, the sectors may be closed.
22. Maximum one-third of the outdoor and indoor areas of coffeehouses, cafes, cafeterias and clubs will continue to be used. However, no games will be played in the specified sectors (paper, okey, etc.), and hookah, if any, will not be used. Persons working in these sectors will repeat antigen tests every seven days, starting from 13.04.2021. In addition, a letter of undertaking will be signed by these sectors and if it is determined that the specified rules are not complied with, the sectors may be closed.
23. Bet offices will be able to continue their activities within the framework of the conditions specified in the letter of undertaking. One third of the closed areas of the offices will be able to be operated. Food service will not be provided at Bet offices. Persons working in these sectors will repeat antigen tests every seven days, starting from 13.04.2021. In addition, a letter of undertaking will be signed by these sectors and if it is determined that the specified rules are not complied with, the sectors may be closed.
24. It has been decided that special education centers will continue their activities. People working in special education centers will repeat PCR tests every seven days.
25. It has been deemed appropriate to continue sports activities and training in non-contact, individual and open areas.
26. Performance swimmers of sports clubs, licensed swimmers and disabled individuals for rehabilitation purposes can be trained in swimming pools. However, course activities will not be held in the pools.
27. It has been deemed appropriate to allow people who have been in the United Kingdom, Netherlands, Brazil, Denmark and Africa to enter the country in the last 14 days, provided that they remain in quarantine for 14 days.
28. The transfers of those who reside in our country and want to go abroad via Southern Cyprus Larnaca Airport, and also want to come to our country via Southern Cyprus Larnaca Airport, will be made by T-permit taxis and touristic minibuses. Drivers who will make the said transfer are required to submit negative PCR test results within the last 3 days. These vehicles must return within a maximum of 3 hours from the border gate they pass through. By ensuring all necessary hygiene conditions in these vehicles, they will be able to transfer with a maximum of 2 passengers in taxis with a “T” license and a maximum of 4 passengers in vehicles with a touristic minibus license.
29. In transfers from Southern Cyprus to our country, the negative PCR test results made in the last three days will be submitted and the passengers brought with the knowledge of the border police will be transferred to the designated quarantine hotels.
30. In addition, the drivers will sign the commitment forms prepared within the scope of the above-mentioned rules. If it is determined that the specified rules are not complied with, the drivers will not be allowed to pass again.
31. It has been deemed appropriate that the national / international exams to be held in our country are carried out under the conditions stated below.
32. The persons and supervisors who will take the exam have negative PCR test results within the last 72 hours,

• Keeping doors and windows constantly open in order to ventilate the exam area,
• Persons entering the exam area to use their personal protective equipment during the exam,
• Arranging the tables in the exam area to comply with the social distance rules

1. It has been deemed appropriate to do it provided that a disinfectant is placed at the entrance to the examination area.
2. Persons who will enter our country due to IVF treatment will be quarantined for 10-14 days, determined according to their country. People who are planned to go from quarantine hotels to IVF Centers for treatment will be taken from the quarantine hotel for 3-4 hours with the negative PCR test results made in the last 48 hours and left to the quarantine hotel after the treatment. The responsibility of the person taken from the quarantine hotel will belong entirely to the Managing Director of the IVF Center. The commitment form prepared for each person to be taken from the quarantine hotels and taken to the IVF center will be signed by the Responsible Manager and these forms will be submitted to the Ministry of Health Coordination Board when applying for a treatment permit.
3. Indoor sports halls (fitness) will be able to continue their activities within the framework of the conditions specified in the letter of undertaking. People working in gyms will repeat PCR tests every seven days. Halls that are found to be not complied with the rules specified in the commitment forms may be closed.
4. In our country, if a contrary decision is not made according to the number of cases, it has been deemed appropriate to train the team sports to be held in closed areas without an audience, provided that they do weekly PCR tests. The undertaking to be prepared with the relevant federations will be signed.
5. It is deemed appropriate not to hold protests, rallies and ceremonies in closed areas. Actions, rallies and ceremonies planned to be held in open areas should be carried out with a maximum of 50 people, taking into account the social distance rule and wearing masks throughout the action.
   ? According to the wristband and home quarantine criteria determined by the Ministry of Health;

• The elderly over the age of 70
• Children under 12-year-old
• Atherosclerotic heart disease, heart failure
• Patients receiving immunosuppressive therapy
• Cancer patients – those who have received chemotherapy and radiotherapy in the last 6 months
• Those who have had a minor operation within 1 month
• Those who have had a major operation within 3 months
• People with physical and mental disabilities
• People with neurodegenerative diseases
  Autism spectrum,
• Psychiatric Cases diagnosed more than the last 3 months (report and treatment should be arranged by a specialist psychiatrist.)
• Those living with a colostomy bag and a permanent urinary catheter
• People with end-stage renal failure who need dialysis
• Organ and stem cell transplant patients
• Pregnancy

1. Persons who are deemed appropriate to spend their quarantine periods at their homes with wristbands will go to their residential addresses they have committed to spend their quarantine periods for 10-14 days, either by their own vehicles (without anyone else in their vehicles) or by public transport, taxi, touristic minibus authorized vehicles determined by the Ministry of Finance.
2. It is recommended that people who do not comply with the home quarantine rules are sent to central quarantine, people pay their quarantine fees themselves and initiate criminal proceedings in accordance with the relevant legislation.
3. In order to start 3-night indoor tourism with charter flights, wristband application and control must be implemented in our country. In order to open local tourism, it will be re-evaluated according to the increase in cases seen in our country in the coming days.
4. It has been deemed appropriate for professional artists to perform their theater / concert / exhibition work / rehearsals in accordance with the hygiene rule. The performances will be held with a maximum of one third of the halls occupied, social distance, mask rule will be followed. Everyone who will work in the hall must have negative PCR tests performed within the last 48 hours. The commitment forms to be prepared for these sectors will be signed. One third of its closed areas can be used.
5. It was deemed appropriate to start the lessons provided that the music / ballet instructors teach one-on-one. Instructors will repeat PCR tests every 7 days.
6. Due to the increasing number of cases in our country, it was decided to cancel the decision to open internet cafes, which was previously taken on April 8, 2021. It will be re-evaluated in the coming days.
7. Libraries will be able to continue their activities within the framework of the specified rules.
8. Apprentice students have been deemed appropriate to start their education in the workplace depending on the sectors opened. The rules applied in the specified sectors will also apply to apprentice students.