30 new cases announced as football clusters grow

30 new coronavirus cases were detected on Tuesday, many of which formed part of growing clusters developed among local football teams.

The new cases emerged from a bulk of 2,685 tests, and raised total known cases to 1,743.

The Famagusta district hospital is currently treating 16 coronavirus patients, four of which are in the hospital’s ICU. On Tuesday, the scientific director of the Famagusta general hospital Amalia Hajiyianni raised the alarm over the rising number of coronavirus patients being treated at the island’s designated coronavirus hospital, noting that the average age of coronavirus patients has decreased, as 50% are under 45 years old, while one is just 24.

Nine got tested privately

Nine of Tuesday’s new cases were detected among samples collected from people who took the initiative to get tested.

The first developed symptoms before getting tested.

The second involves a student of a Linopetra middle school, who is part of the family environment of another student who was announced positive on Sunday. Despite the fact that the two students had daily contact, the student announced positive on Tuesday wasn’t included in the list of the first student’s contacts.

The third person flew in to Cyprus from Germany on September 13, before developing symptoms on September 21.

The fourth is a member of the UN peacekeeping force in Cyprus, who arrived on the island from the UK.

The fifth person flew in from Beirut on September 17, and got tested on the 12^th day of their quarantine, as required by health protocols, with the test coming back positive.

The sixth person got tested at the request of their work.

The seventh person flew in from Ukraine on September 13 and took the test on the 12^th day of their quarantine.

The eighth is a UK tourist who flew into Cyprus on September 25 before developing symptoms two days later.

The ninth is a person from the family environment of a case announced on September 14.

Two are airport arrivals

Two more cases were detected at Cyprus airports. The first is a person who arrived at Paphos airport from London on Monday, while the second arrived at Larnaca airport from Moscow on Tuesday.

Six from Larnaca random sampling program

Six more were detected in the framework of the random sampling program targeting 3,000 people in the Larnaca district.

Four were players of the local second division team ASIL Lysis, among which one is a student of a Larnaca private school. Two more players from the team were announced positive for the virus on September 27 and 28, as was a family contact of one of the two players. The cluster currently counts seven cases.

The fifth was a student of a Larnaca secondary school, and is a player in the Nea Salamina academies.

The sixth is a Larnaca resident who took the test through the program.

13 are contacts

13 more were detected through contact tracing. One is a family contact of a player for the local first division team AC Omonia.

The second is a player for first division club Ethnikos Achnas, while the third is a contact of a staff member of Ethnikos Achnas. The fourth is a family contact of another Ethnikos Achnas player who was also announced positive recently.

The fifth is a family contact of an employee for a Limassol company who was announced positive on September 26.

The sixth is a family contact of an employee of the Ocean Basket branch at Larnaca’s Finikoudes area who was announced positive on September 22, and who also numbers another coronavirus positive family contact.

The seventh is a contact of an elderly woman who was announced positive on September 26.

The eighth is a family contact of another Ethnikos Achnas player who was announced positive for the virus on September 26.

Three more were family contacts of a case that was announced on September 26 and who had arrived from Greece. Another family member was announced positive on Monday. The cluster currently counts five people.

Another is a family contact of a case announced on Sunday, which had taken the test prior to undergoing surgery.

The final contact is a family member of a case announced on September 24.

Health ministry calls out contacts disclosure shambles

The health ministry said that “among today’s cases, as with some cases in previous cases, we have observed that there are people who are close contacts with other cases, who were not declared to the contact tracing group.”

It noted that “this phenomenon is causing intense concern, as it creates obstacles for the contact tracing process, the timely isolation and tracing of contacts of cases, while it also significantly increases the chances of an uncontrolled spread of the virus.”