Focus shifts to worsening Limassol epidemiological situation

The local epidemiological situation, and particularly the deteriorating conditions marking the Limassol district, were at the centre of discussions between the health minister Constantinos Ioannou, the government’s health advisory committee, and the contact tracing team on Monday.

The contact tracing team tabled data covering the past two weeks that show that the deteriorating epidemiological situation in the Limassol district is not limited to specific areas but is affecting the district as a whole. Remaining districts are currently just under safe limits, but the contact tracing team said the situation can easily get out of hand in other districts as well.

A large number of cases have over the past two weeks been detected at specific workplaces operating in all districts, such as pharmaceutical companies, food processing plants, food retailers, and other retail businesses, among other businesses.

Preliminary evaluations show that health and safety protocols are once again being flouted at workplaces, leading the health services and relevant departments of the labour ministry to step up checks for violations, while instructions were issued to conduct tests on the entirety of staff of businesses where cases are detected.

The health minister was also informed that several people testing positive for the virus are refraining from reporting all their contacts and are concealing the places where they work or are declaring themselves unemployed. Other cases of concern involve businesses which are not declaring their staff force in full.

The data also showed a renewed increase in the number of elderly people testing positive for the virus, particularly due to intra-family transmission or transmission via caregivers.