Cyprus To Allow Covid-Vaccinated UK Visitors From May

Cyprus has said it will open its borders to vaccinated Britons from the start of May – but UK government travel restrictions will still be in force.

The Cypriot government said those who had both Covid jabs could travel there without restrictions from 1 May.

But this is more than two weeks before the earliest date those in England will be able to go abroad for holidays.

It comes as an analysis found the cost of seaside accommodation has risen by 35% this summer compared with 2020.

Cyprus’s deputy tourism minister, Savvas Perdios, said the country would allow Britons who had been given vaccines approved by the European Medicines Agency the right to enter without the need for a negative test or to quarantine.

Tourists would be required to have had their second dose at least seven days before travelling, the minister added.

Cyprus has already struck a similar agreement allowing Israeli tourists to enter the country from 1 April.

But foreign leisure travel will still be barred for people in England at the beginning of May, with Prime Minister Boris Johnson saying the earliest Britons could jet away is 17 May.

This is dependant on various factors related to the coronavirus pandemic, such as vaccine rollouts and the prevalence of Covid-19 variants.