in-cyprus 24 March 2020 - Josephine Koumettou
The Ministry of Health issued an update on Tuesday on how to report Covid-19 symptoms:
- If a citizen presents suspicious symptoms related to Coronavirus, they should contact their Personal Doctor by telephone who will then advise them on the next steps. If necessary, the Personal Doctor will reach out to the Epidemiological Monitoring Unit of the Ministry of Health electronically to jointly decide on the course of action for each case, and then the Unit will update the beneficiary accordingly.
- If a citizen is found positive to Covid-19 and needs to self-isolate at home, they will be monitored by telephone by their Personal Doctor who will be providing them with instructions. Therefore, these citizens should be in communication with their Personal Doctors and strictly follow their instructions.
- Given the urgent nature of the situation, citizens are expected to cooperate to the maximum and help medical professionals provide their services. For this to happen, citizens are called to contact their Personal Doctors or Specialist Doctors by telephone for non-Coronavirus-related incidents. Only in the case of emergencies will patients be seen by doctors in person and following a telephone assessment.
- In case a Personal Doctor is unable to provide services to their beneficiaries, they are required to designate a temporary replacement for their patients to contact. If a beneficiary cannot reach their Personal Doctor, they must let the HIO know by sending an email to pdavailability@hio.org.cy to resolve the issue without delay.
- Citizens should call 1420 to report symptoms only if they are not GHS (Gesy) beneficiaries.
- Patients who ignore procedure and visit the A&E at their own will or following verbal instructions of their Personal Doctor will NOT be accepted.
All citizens and medical professionals are expected to strictly adhere to the government’s regulations, as the success of managing the Coronavirus emergency in Cyprus depends on EVERYONE.
