Five new cases involving contacts and persons with travel history

Five new coronavirus cases, involving two persons with travel history and three contacts of another known case, were announced by the Cyprus health ministry on Thursday, when a total of 1,575 lab tests were conducted to check samples for the virus.

One of the new cases involves a Canadian national who permanently resides in Cyprus, and who travelled to Cyprus from Iraq via Dubai on Wednesday. Upon arrival on the island, she showed proof of a negative coronavirus test that was not accepted by airport authorities, though due to her status as a permanent resident of Cyprus, she was entitled to getting checked for the virus at the airport.

The second new case with a history of travel involved a person flew to Cyprus from Israel on July 21 with special permission from national authorities, and who had presented a negative coronavirus test. Upon developing symptoms, the person took the initiative to get re-checked for the virus, with the test coming back positive.

Thursday’s three remaining cases involved contacts of a local person who was announced positive for the virus on Tuesday. According to the health ministry, just one of the three new locally-acquired cases was symptomatic.

The new cases brought total known cases in the Republic of Cyprus to 1,045.

The health ministry on Thursday expressed intense concern over the emergence of ‘orphan’ coronavirus cases, particularly in the Limassol district, involving people who tested positive without coming into contact with a known case or without a travel history.

The health ministry issued a strong reminder that the virus is still among the community, and stressed that the over-relaxation being observed could result in setbacks and in a reversal of Cyprus’ positive epidemiological indicators.