Cyprus Minister of Finance Constantinos Petrides presented on Thursday the second government package aiming to boost confidence and economic activity as Cyprus emerges from a two month lockdown to curb the spread of the coronavirus outbreak.

Cyprus is the only country in the EU besides Malta to have tested more than 12% of its population for the coronavirus, Health Minister Constantinos Ioannou said on Thursday.

Phase Two of NHS (Gesy) that incorporates inpatient services to the reform has begun as of today, June 1, with 85% of Cyprus’ doctors on board the scheme as well as 75% of hospital beds and nearly 100% of clinical labs and pharmacies, Phileleftheros reports.

The island is expected to receive some 600,000 passengers in August, Transport Minister Yiannis Karousos said Thursday, noting that this estimation includes people flying in on commercial and private planes.

The full rollout of the island’s universal healthcare system (NHS) on Monday will take place with the participation of 42 private hospitals, with the Health Insurance Organization on Friday expressing its content after two large Nicosia hospitals, the Apollonion and Aretaeio, agreed to participate.

The cabinet on Thursday ratified the EastMed gas pipeline project, which had been signed in January by Greece, Israel, and Cyprus.

Eight bids have been received for the engineering supervision contract for building a Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) terminal on the island to import the gas for energy generation.

The RES and Energy Conservation Fund is accepting applications for a scheme subsidising solar heaters for water at residences for 2020.

Despite the global slowdown caused by COVID-19, the renewable energy sector is expected to bounce back quickly as the long-term drivers for investment remain strong, according to the 55th EY Renewable Energy Country Attractiveness Index (RECAI). The latest index considers the potential impact of the pandemic, looking at the resiliency of countries in both health and economic terms.

EuroAsia Interconnector, the Cyprus-Greece subsea electricity cable, got the go-ahead this week when energy ministers of both countries co-signed the project’s application for grants from the ‘Connecting Europe Facility’ (CEF), the EU’s energy infrastructure fund.