FOUR more persons were on Thursday confirmed as having contracted the Covid-19 virus, raising the total in Cyprus to 10, while the government telegraphed tighter safety measures but also coming financial relief to businesses affected by an expected slowdown in economic activity.

Finance Minister of Cyprus, Constantinos Petrides, said on Wednesday that a financial stimulus package is on its way to help businesses tackle the economic damage caused by the coronavirus, which had a big and negative impact on Cyprus’s tourism and travel sector.

Limassol seems to be winning the cruise tourism bet, as 2019 has seen a significant increase in arrivals at the port, with the prospects for 2020 being particularly encouraging. According to the management company DP World Limassol, 2019 arrivals were 40% more than in 2018.

Vehicle registrations in the first two months of 2020 increased by 5.1% compared to the same period in 2019 (7,842 compared to 7,463), according to Statistical Service data published by CNA.

The Health Minister on Wednesday issued a decree prohibiting the gathering of more than 75 people in a single, indoor space of private or public use, until the end of the month.

Four new cases of Covid-19 infections were confirmed by the health ministry on Wednesday, bringing the total to six in the Republic and one in the north.

The Cyprus trade deficit widened to €5.09 billion in 2019, from €4.89 billion in the year before, due to a significant drop of €1.2 billion in exports, according to official statistics.

A financial stimulus package to help businesses tackle the impact of the coronavirus, which has already decimated the island’s tourism and travel sector, is to be finalised in the coming days, Finance Minister Constantinos Petrides said on Wednesday.

The fast spread of coronavirus worldwide and the first confirmed cases in Cyprus have led consumers to rush to supermarkets all over the island to buy essential supplies, Phileleftheros reports.

A total of 185 samples examined by the Cyprus Institute of Neurology and Genetics yesterday have tested negative for the coronavirus, its director Leonidas Phylactou told CybC radio on Wednesday morning as sweeping new measures aimed at containing an outbreak here kicked in.