Newsroom
Greek Cypriot health officials say there is a “gradual reduction” in the number of confirmed coronavirus cases, adding that measures in place have been effective but this could still change at a moment’s notice.
Leondios Kostrikis, a professor of biotechnology and virology at the University of Cyprus, told a press conference on Sunday that it would be “scientifically premature” to say the coronavirus was subsiding but said “we are optimistic about the effectiveness of the restrictive measures currently in place.”
Infected people, who are not fully forthcoming with information regarding their contacts, make the task of health officials more difficult
During the daily coronavirus briefing, Kostrikis said there was an overall gradual reduction in known confirmed cases of the covid-19 disease over the last five days, adding that the drop would not have been possible without the people’s daily sacrifices.
Kostrikis said on April 1 there were 58 confirmed infections out of 779 lab tests, adding that this was the highest daily number to date.
On Thursday, April 2, a total of 603 tests were conducted with 36 confirmed cases, while 40 cases tested positive on Friday out of 668 tests, 30 out of 698 on Saturday, and 20 tested positive on Sunday out of 810, he added.
“In Cyprus, due to the small size in population, tracing has been a lot more effective, and this is an added benefit for us,” Kostrikkis said.
But the task of health officials was still difficult ahead, the health expert warned, pointing out there were people who were not fully forthcoming with information regarding their contacts.
Situation under control but could change at a moment's notice
Kostrikis said he feared that friends and relatives of persons who tested positive may have been infected or infected others without their knowledge.
“We call on them to give us all the necessary information so that the painstaking process of tracing can actually work,” Kostrikkis said.
The health expert reiterated that “the situation is under control” but warned that it was also changeable at short notice.
“Please stay home and maintain social distancing,” he said.
Over 1 million globally
Globally, confirmed infections have exceeded one million while in Cyprus there have been 436 in the south out of over 10,000 lab tests. There have also been 10 Covid-19 infections on British Bases and 91 in the north.
One death was recorded in the south on Sunday, raising the death toll to 13 in the Republic. The Cyprus News Agency reported that a 76-year-old man, who had tested positive for the novel coronavirus, died in hospital, adding that the elderly patient was facing a host of other serious medical issues.
CNA reported that a total of nine deaths in the Republic of Cyprus have been attributed to the Covid-19 disease.
Following some inconsistencies in the total number of reported coronavirus deaths, additional reports said health officials changed the calculation method since previous briefings to reflect whether patients died from the COVID-19 disease or had other serious medical issues.
