One more person has died, a woman who was being treated at the ICU of Limassol Hospital, the Health Ministry said on Thursday, and another 36 people have tested positive for Covid-19. This brings the total number of deaths to ten and the total number of confirmed cases to 356 (including ten in the British Bases). The people who died so far are eight men and two women. The average age is 69. Eight, including the 77 year old woman who died today, had underlying health problems.
One in four cases of Covid-19 in Cyprus are healthcare workers, a new report shows. The report, published on Thursday by a team of experts advising the Ministry of Health on Covid-19, presents for the first time data collected from the start of the outbreak in Cyprus until March 31. Covering the period up until March 31 it provides valuable insight into the situation here, including the age and location of Covid-19 cases, the source of exposure and a comparison with other countries. Up until March 31 the mortality rate associated with Covid-19 in Cyprus was less than 1 in 100,000 people, while the case fatality rate stood at 3 per cent, according to the epidemiological data. Read more.
Coronavirus will persist on the island for a long time, Health Minister Constantinos Ioannou said on Thursday arguing that had there been compliance with the restrictive measures, the pandemic would have reached its peak by now. Experts said a large number of cases are expected in the coming period. Speaking to state broadcaster CyBC radio, Ioannou said there was currently a large number of cases compared with the size of the population. “It seems there has not been compliance with the measures,” the minister said. He added that this was evident during the contact tracing of people who tested positive for the virus. Instead of two to three contacts, some were found to have around 10, he said. The Minister also announced that Cyprus health services are to carry out targeted testing in Paphos and the village of Aradippou in Larnaca after they witnessed a large outbreak of coronavirus cases over the past few days. He told CyBC radio that Paphos and Aradippou had the highest number of positive cases in Cyprus, suggesting they were cluster areas of the deadly virus.
Cyprus may see an unexpected large number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in the next few days Dr Petros Karayiannis of the medical school of the University of Nicosia told the Cyprus News Agency on Thursday. He estimates that the number of cases have still not peaked and stressed the need for action in the two areas with the biggest problem — Paphos and Aradippou. His statements came as the Health Ministry announced it was stepping up testing in the two municipalities. Kaarayiannis expressed the hope that the peak will come before May but said it was difficult to make definitive assessments because of the two ‘fronts’ at Paphos and Aradoppou as no one knew to what extent the virus has been transmitted in the two communities.
Four new coronavirus cases were confirmed in the north on Thursday. This brings the number of cases to 81. So far, two people died in the north both German tourists;
The two largest banking institutions on the island, Bank of Cyprus and Hellenic Bank said today that until this morning that they received more than 7,000 applications to suspend loans.
A decree banning passenger flights is being extended for another 14 days, Transport Minister Yiannis Karousos said on Thursday. “Assessing the situation in the Republic of Cyprus but also given the dramatic situation in other states of Europe and in the world, we are extending the ban on flights for another fourteen (14) days,” he wrote on Twitter.
One medical professional from the Paphos Hospital and four from the Famagusta referral hospital are among the 58 new Covid-19 cases announced, CNA reports. The Paphos case is a female doctor that had been in isolation for many days, whose husband is also a doctor. He was among the first to have tested positive to the virus and had received treatment at the Famagusta referral hospital.
Head of the Paphos Hospital Dr Iosif Moutiris said that the new short-term hospitalisation centre for Covid-19 at the hospital will begin operations this Saturday.
The Foreign Ministry is stepping up efforts to begin repatriation flights for vulnerable groups as early as next week. It said that after the massive task of containing the Covid-19 outbreak and mitigating the impact on the economy, repatriating thousands of Cypriots is the biggest challenge facing the government. The Foreign Ministry is on standby to receive word from the medical council set up to review applications from students with medical issues who, with others who are abroad for medical reasons, are the two groups being given priority to return under the latest updated decree, it added. The first flight is expected sometime next week. All will be quarantined for 14 days and their return will be staggered because of the availability of quarantine facilities, the paper added.
A total of 12,651 Cypriots have registered on a new portal set up by the Foreign Ministry (connect2cy), students and others, who are currently in 100 countries. The majority are in the UK (6000) and Greece (1500).
Another 153 people were booked for flouting the stay at home decree last night, the Cyprus News Agency reports. It said that 4161 checks of pedestrians and drivers were carried out from 6 pm on Wednesday until 6 am on Thursday. A curfew is in force from 9 pm to 6 am for all but essential workers. Permission to leave the house from 6 am to 6 pm is restricted to one time a day as an exception, after receiving approval for the 8998 number. Those over 65 can use form B.
