Confirmed cases go over the 900 mark

Confirmed cases went over the 900 mark in the Republic of Cyprus on Monday after three new cases were confirmed.

The new cases, which raised total known cases to 901, involved one contact of another known case, one person who was recently repatriated, and one person who took the initiative to get tested for the virus.

“As regards the findings of recent days, we are particularly concerned about cases that emerged from the programme targeting special groups,” member of the scientific government advisory group, Leontios Kostrikis said, clarifying that the programme that is being implemented by the Health Ministry involves the testing of vulnerable members of the population such as cancer patients before they are admitted into treatment, other patients prior to being admitted into surgery, pregnant women before giving birth, and elderly people prior to being admitted into nurseries.

“We must not forget that the entirety of the efforts we are undertaking are done for the protection of the vulnerable,” Kostrikis said.

According to Dr Marios Loizou, also among the panel delivering the island’s daily coronavirus update, “the data of the last few days show that the pandemic is weakening. But we must not take steps backwards.”

The experts highlighted that there is no doubt that undiagnosed coronavirus carriers are moving about among the community, and “we must all therefore act as if we are carriers of the virus.”

“The current week is of crucial importance,” they added, “as we expect to see the formation of the epidemiological picture after the first days of the easing of measures.”