Five new cases emerge after over two thousand samples processed

Five new coronavirus cases were confirmed in the Republic of Cyprus on Wednesday which saw the processing of over two thousand samples in labs across the island.

The new cases, which brought the total confirmed cases to 883, involved two contacts of other known cases and three people who took the initiative to get tested after developing symptoms.

Data released by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control on Wednesday showed Cyprus has so far recorded the third lowest number of confirmed coronavirus cases across the EU. 

Worldwide, confirmed cases have surpassed 3.7 million, while 260,000 have so far lost their lives. At the same time, over 1.2 million across the globe have recovered from the virus.

On Wednesday, the UK surpassed Italy in coronavirus fatalities, recording 29,427 deaths.

Experts speaking at the Cyprus daily coronavirus briefing said the expected improvement of the weather as we draw nearer to the summer months, as well as the positive developments being made in the area of treatments and a vaccine, are allowing us to be optimistic.

But they stressed that as pleasant as it is to see restrictions loosened, now it the time for a stricter application of protection measures, so that our sacrifices were not in vain.