The government on Wednesday turned down pleas to reopen churches and shopping malls but said it would reassess the situation next week.

The Cyprus Banks Association announced on Thursday they would extend the suspension of foreclosures concerning primary homes valued at up to €350,000 until the end of March.

The coronavirus situation in Cyprus is stable and a drop in the daily number of positive cases is anticipated but any decisions on special measures over the Christmas holiday will be taken the very last minute.

Cyprus expects its first deliveries of Covid-19 vaccines in early January as part of the rollout across Europe with Pfizer/BioNTech arriving first.

In 2021, according to the most optimistic scenarios, Cyprus will enter the constellation of 5G networks, with the frequencies auction set to begin on Thursday.

A new app allowing users to monitor the presence of lionfish, an invasive species of fish that has recently proliferated Cyprus’ waters, was launched on Monday the University of Cyprus announced.

Focusing on developing higher education standards in Cyprus, The American University of Cyprus (AUCY), an institution which aims to provide the best-in-class levels of university learning, was inaugurated on November 27 on its campus located in the middle of Larnaca, under the auspices of the Mayor of Larnaca Andreas Vyras.

Natural gas explorations south of Cyprus and near Egypt’s giant offshore gas fields will resume in the latter part of next year with the energy companies involved reassuring Nicosia of their plans.

The government is reviewing the restriction measures and will probably proceed with some relaxations following reactions by businessmen, whose activities have been frozen but also by the leadership of the Church.

The Republic of Cyprus’ eagerly awaited plan for the mass vaccination of its residents against the novel coronavirus was presented on Tuesday by the health minister and Dr Olga Kalakouta.