Splendid isolation: islands prove safe ports in virus storm

by Duncan Woodside, with Jérémie Richard in Reykjavík

Enjoying the loosening of a six-week coronavirus lockdown in Cyprus, Michalis Eveledis charged across pristine white sand and plunged headlong into the cool Mediterranean under a glaring sun.

“I am very glad to visit my beach and swim for the first time this year,” the 39-year-old resident of Ayia Napa — usually a magnet for foreign tourists but now deserted — said with a big grin.

The government this week began allowing people into the sea for the first time since March and permitted them to leave their homes up to three times, instead of just once, per day.

Cyprus is one of a clutch of normally highly open island nations — including Iceland, Malta and New Zealand — that have lately started easing, or are poised to ease, measures restricting internal movement.

All these nations have – so far, at least — scored impressively in containing the virus’ spread.

The Republic of Cyprus imposed a ban on most incoming passenger flights from March 21, after schools had been ordered shut and larger indoor gatherings banned on March 11, ahead of a curfew imposed late that month.

It seems to have worked: declared coronavirus fatalities stood at just 15 as the government eased its lockdown on Monday.

This puts the country in the top seven performing EU nations for coronavirus deaths as a proportion of the population, according to declared data collated by AFP.

And Cyprus is in the top ten countries worldwide for coronavirus screening tests as a proportion of its population, figures compiled by demographic data provider Worldometer show.

Iceland ranks best in the world among nation states on that metric, while Malta places fourth globally.

Malta also boasts the EU’s third lowest death-to-population ratio for the virus. (AFP)