Officials nervous over non-compliant citizens

Health officials in the Republic of Cyprus have another battle to fight as the island tries to emerge out of the pandemic, with officials having to chase down people who fail to self-isolate.

According to local media, government health officials are having a difficult time tracking down persons who are supposed to remain in self-isolation due to exposure to confirmed cases.

In one case, a woman who traveled back to Cyprus and was supposed to remain in self-isolation was nowhere to be found. Officials got wind of her non-compliance when they attempted to notify the woman that she was a suspected carrier after a person sitting very close to her on the plane had tested positive. When she finally answered her phone, she told officials that she was at the beach.

In another case, a female employee who tested negative after having close contact with a confirmed case, ended up going to work instead of remaining in self-isolation until further testing.

According to Philenews, the woman told her employer that the confirmed case had been false alarm but it later turned out she had given wrong information to her boss.

A third case involved a man who had tested negative after a return flight but was told to remain in self-isolation. When officials sought him out after another traveler sitting very close by had tested positive, the man was nowhere to be found and was later spotted at a fast food restaurant with friends.

Health ministry officials are reportedly preparing to ask for more practical assistance from police, citing “risks to public health.”

Experts fear that a number of suspected coronavirus carriers could become unmanageable if they fail to comply with social distancing or create conditions where their contacts would be untraceable.