Ministry urges caution as new report shows burdened health system

Though Cyprus has managed to regain control over the spread of coronavirus, with daily cases fluctuating around the one hundred mark, the Health Ministry said Friday that transmission within the local community is ongoing and the healthcare system remains heavily burdened.

Referring to a fresh national surveillance report providing the figures behind the local coronavirus pandemic until February 2, the Health Ministry said the rate of positivity in the general population, which is currently below 1%, is showing a downward trend, particularly taking into account the number of tests being conducted.

On the down side, however, the Ministry said the healthcare system, and ICUs in particular, remain under heavy stress despite the drop in coronavirus cases requiring hospital treatment.

Cyprus is currently both eagerly awaiting but also bracing for the reopening of more sectors of the economy on February 8, with the Ministry urging the public to remain vigilant if a renewed relapse is to be avoided.

The national surveillance report

The report published Friday showed that by February 2, a total of 30,933 coronavirus cases were detected, while the Republic recorded a death toll of 204, corresponding to a case fatality risk of 0.7%.

On February 3, hospitals across Cyprus were treating 125 coronavirus patients of an average age of 70 years. ICUs were treating 28 cases, 24 of which were intubated.

During the two-week period between January 20 and February 2, the Republic detected 1,625 cases, of which 51.1% were female and 48.9% male aged on average 39 years old. Just 1.2% of these cases were imported.

By age group, cases included 281 infants, children and adolescents aged 0-19 years-old (17.3%), 1,043 adults aged 20-59 years (64.2%), and 396 persons aged 60 years and older (18.5%).

Those 14 days saw 23,461 PCR tests and 215,765 rapid tests conducted, corresponding to 2,642 PCR tests and 24,297.9 rapid tests per 100,000 people.

Among all cases diagnosed over those two weeks, 732 (45.1%) were reported in the Limassol district, 459 (28.3%) in Nicosia, 244 (15%) in Larnaca, 85 (5.2%) in Famagusta, 72 (4.4%) in Paphos, and 33 (2%) were reported either in the British bases or had a residence abroad, or information was not available.

As regards clinical figures, 35.2% reported no symptoms at diagnosis and 64.7% reported at least one symptom.

By February 3, among cases alive, 88.9%  (27,267) have recovered or have been released from isolation.