Cabinet split as measures gain on lockdown

The Cabinet is set to announce later on Friday a new set of measures to curb the COVID-19 spread in the community, as daily cases continue to rise with a situation in hospitals extremely alarming.

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According to local media, the Cypriot government will most probably decide to further tighten current April measures for at least a couple of weeks into May, with small “surgical relaxations” possibly to be announced for Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday.

President Nicos Anastasiades summoned health experts on the government’s pandemic advisory committee Thursday evening, after the Cabinet postponed a decision to announce health measures and relaxations during the Greek Orthodox Holy Week.

But health experts said they were unprepared for the meeting as a group, giving instead each their personal views on issues brought up earlier by members of the Cabinet.

Reports also said most ministers sided with Health Minister Constantinos Ioannou who favored a strict lockdown for two weeks, while ministers of finance and labor opposed the idea citing problems with new economic measures that would have to go along.

According to Kathimerini Cyprus, the President also did not favor another lockdown, citing Greek Orthodox Holy Week and Easter, as well as the possibility of a serious backlash.

But Kathimerini sources said a conservative approach was still likely without a lockdown, referring to making current measures stricter such as reducing text message notifications over the weekend from three down to two legitimate outings, putting limits on how many civil servants could physically go to work, including updates on limits for personnel in businesses and law firms.

On Thursday, the health ministry announced the death of an elderly man, who had been administrated one of two doses of a vaccine against COVID-19.

Daily confirmed coronavirus cases came to 927, bringing the total number of infections since the outbreak of the pandemic to 59,792.

The overall positivity rate continued to climb to 1.67% as 296 patients were being treated in state hospitals, 74 of whom were described as being in serious condition.