17 new coronavirus cases detected

17 new coronavirus cases were detected on Monday, many of which formed part of growing clusters, with the health ministry issuing a renewed call to the public to adhere to protection measures in place and to contact their GP as soon as symptoms develop.

The new cases emerged after 2,465 tests were conducted, and raised total known cases to 1,713.

Four of Monday’s new cases were detected among the program targeting 3,000 Larnaca district residents through random sampling. The three emerged from the random sampling conducted on September 26 at Mackenzie. The first, an employee of the Bank of Cyprus’ Livadia branch, had symtpoms, while the second was asymptomatic.

The third detected through the program was a football player for the local second division team ASIL Lysi, who is a relative of another case involving a player for Ethnikos Achnas. Two more people from the family environment of the Ethnikos Achnas player were also announced positive for the virus on Sunday. The fourth is a close contact of the ASIL Lysi football player.

Three more cases were detected among people who took the initiative to get tested. Two are Bulgarian nationals permanently residing in Cyprus, who returned from Bulgaria on September 13 and took the test on the 12^th day of their quarantine, as required by health protocols, with the test coming back positive. The third is a UK tourist who flew to Cyprus on September 18 for vacations in the Famagusta district, but who developed symptoms on Sunday.

Four more people were detected at Cyprus airports. One arrived in Larnaca from Vilnius on Sunday, while the remaining three who are related arrived in Larnaca from Bucharest on Sunday.

Six more were detected through contact tracing. One formed part of a cluster that now counts eight people, and is an employee of the same Limassol company where five Czech and two local employees were announced positive the virus last week.

Two other cases are close family contacts of a Limassol middle school student that was announced on Sunday, while the fourth contact is a person from the immediate family environment of a case announced on September 25. The fifth contact is a close family contact of a case announced on September 26. The sixth contact is a member of the Nea Samalina football club.

The Famagusta general hospital is currently treating 15 coronavirus patients, four of which are receiving treatment in the hospital’s ICU.