Confirmed coronavirus cases resume upward trend

Coronavirus cases reached 494 in the Republic of Cyprus on Tuesday after 29 more people were confirmed positive for the bug.

While 14 people who had contracted the virus have so far died in the Republic, only nine of the deaths have been fully attributed to coronavirus, as the remaining five fatalities involve people who suffered from serious underlying health conditions.

In the north, confirmed coronavirus cases reached 92 on Tuesday, with two people who had contracted the virus so far dying.

The 29 new cases confirmed in the Republic on Tuesday involve 22 people who were traced as contacts of other known cases, three who tested positive from a sum of 371 tests conducted during the past two days as part of targeted sampling efforts in Paphos, and four whose history is still under investigation.

The new cases of the day were part of a bulk of 1,353 samples that were processed in the Republic on Tuesday, while a total of 13,017 lab tests for coronavirus have so far been conducted.

47 people who had contracted the virus have fully recovered.

Recent days saw wary optimism being expressed by health experts who noted that restriction measures are gradually proving successful as the daily figure of new cases showed a pronouced decrease, with just 19 testing positive on Monday, much lower than April 1 which saw 58 new cases, the highest number of people testing positive in a single day.

Experts speaking at the daily briefing panel on Tuesday said that given the number of confirmed cases that were observed in recent days, the 29 new cases confirmed on Tuesday after the processing of over 1,300 samples, the path currently being followed is the correct one, though there is still a long way to go.

By the correct path, the experts said they referred to the strict methods followed in contact tracing efforts, as well as to the restriction measures in place.

They reiterated that the days we are currently traversing are particularly critical, and will determine the final outcome of the health crisis.

The health experts warned that in the coming days, the consequences of the initial lack of compliance to restriction measures will begin to become evident at Cyprus hospitals, where an increasing number of coronavirus patients are being placed on life support, but which remain able to manage the situation.