In today’s episode, aced with the prospect of teacher strikes, the government has walked back the launch date for the ‘test to stay’ policy in schools that aims to provide for the daily testing of close contacts of confirmed cases instead of self-isolation.

Meanwhile, the future viability of general health scheme Gesy was discussed on Thursday in a meeting chaired by President Nicos Anastasiades, attended by several stakeholders including health officials, the auditor-general and the attorney-general.

In other news, Cyprus registered the third lowest decrease in passenger flights among European Union member states in December, according to new data published by Eurostat.

All this and more in the Cyprus Beat briefing brought to you by the Cyprus Mail.