More cases over the weekend

Five cases were announced in the Republic of Cyprus over the weekend, and four passengers detected in the north, with the vast majority of cases on the island involving inbound travel from abroad.

Authorities in the Republic of Cyprus said one person tested positive for the coronavirus on Sunday. The individual, who was among 44 samples obtained through contact tracing, was a close friend of a gym employee who tested positive one week ago.

Four other cases were announced on Saturday, including one passenger who tested positive upon arriving on the island. The test was conducted through random testing of arriving passengers, while two others who had traveled recently later tested positive through other initiatives.

A Serbian national, who flew to the Republic of Cyprus ten days ago, tested positive on Sunday, with reports saying the woman, described as a permanent resident, took the test through her employer before going back to work.

The two other cases involved an Egyptian national who came on a special permit to work on an oil platform and a local citizen who had developed symptoms and went to visit his doctor. The foreign national took the test through his company while the local case went through his primary care physician.

In the north, four cases were detected over the weekend, with Turkish Cypriot officials announcing on Saturday that one Turkish national tested positive during a mandatory test upon landing at Ercan airport.

Reports on Sunday also said three travelers tested positive upon arriving on the island, two flight passengers and one arriving by ship.

All four travelers were taken to hospital where they will remain under quarantine.

A total of 1159 cases have been confirmed throughout the island since the outbreak of the pandemic, with 1038 known confirmed cases detected in the south and 121 in the north.