ΝΙCOSIA – Responding to a rise in COVID-19 cases after allowing in hordes of tourists, Cyprus’ government ordered face masks be worn at indoor gathering spots, a month after ending the requirement.

Masks will be mandatory inside again as of July 8, said Health Minister Michalis Hadjipantela after the government’s advisory panel of health officials recommended it to deal with a spike in cases.

Those, it said, came from people not taking precautions although it wasn’t indicated if that included anti-vaxxers who weren’t required to be vaccinated, as happened in Greece, where they keep spreading the Coronavirus too.

After ending the mask requirement, Cyprus stopped giving dailiy reports on cases, now doing it weekly, reporting 10,879 for the period ending July 1, compared to 7,263 the previous week.

Despite that and renewing the mask requirement, Hadjipantela said that, “The situation is under control,” without explaining why the health measures are being tightened again for now.