Filenews 29 January 2021
The epidemiological picture in Cyprus is improved and a further reduction in cases will begin to be seen from next week following the performance of the lockdown restrictive measures, estimates the member of the Advisory Scientific Committee, Professor of Microbiology/Molecular Iology of the Medical School of the University of Nicosia Dr. Petros Karagiannis.
In a statement to the CYPE, Dr Karagiannis said that the epidemiological picture shows an improvement but yesterday the number of positive cases went up again as more tests were carried out.
"I hope it starts to fall again but with 158 cases you realize that the government has done well to proceed somewhat more cautiously with the relaxations so that we can be sure that the numerous sampling points which, as announced, will increase significantly to monitor those returning to work not only on the first day but also weekly at a percentage of each company. So delaying a week to open up the economy more I think is for the better," he noted.
"They have delivered the measures"
Asked if they have attributed the restraining order to lockdown he replied in the affirmative. "Of course they paid off significantly the restrictive measures we had in December and during the festive season. We've down from 900 to about 250 cases. With the start of the strictest measures of lockdown we fell to 120. We are now between 120 and 158 cases and we will start to see further decline perhaps next week," he said.
He clarified that the coming week marks three weeks since the tightest lockdown. He explained that previous measures took almost five weeks to see a significant drop.
Proper move for surveillance in the workplace, to extend to children of the 3rd High School
Dr Karagiannis described the move to monitor workers as correct. 'I think if we don't want things to get away from us we need to monitor the situation in the workplace to avoid the problem we had at Christmas. The problem then started in the workplace and suddenly spread to the domestic environment, where there was a tremendous increase in the number of cases," he noted.
Asked whether the measure should also be applied to the children of the Third School, he said "definitely because it is the children who are moving more actively than the other levels of education. If we don't want the virus to re-enter schools we have to be careful with day-to-day surveillance of what's going on there.'
The path to double-digit case numbers may take time
The decrease will begin as soon as next week
Professor Karagiannis stressed that the decrease in the number of cases will begin to be seen from next week but the path to double-digit numbers may take longer.
On the pressure on the health system, he said imports had fallen but hospitalizations in intensive care remained at the same levels. "This is because in addition to it being a fortnight before we see the most serious hospital admissions since the incident was detected, people who enter intensive care remain for longer days than other cases, so these units are pressured when we have a high number of cases," he added.
Asked about the reactions from organised groups to the measures, he suggested that what we all need to understand is that the economy cannot open up at the same time because if we do so it will be disastrous and we will return to the situation within three to four weeks.
"What's more beneficial? Do we proceed carefully with small steps or make sudden movements and whatever rain let it down? It was tried by Greece which opened some of the shops etc. And right now Greece is facing a surge in the number of cases again. Cases have quadrupled in the last two weeks. Israel despite its high vaccination coverage at the moment there is an increase in cases in primary school children because the mutant strain from Britain has entered the community and they face a terrible problem even with the high vaccination coverage that they have, unlike us," he said.
Therefore, he concluded, if we do not want to deal with a situation that is not controlled, we must proceed with prudence and caution.
Difficult months in February and March
All European countries, Dr Karagiannis said, expect February and March to be difficult months in terms of being too cold and by necessity we will be indoors and this is of particular concern.
"I think that if we are careful, and as I said earlier, we are taking small steps but constantly supervising the situation all the time we may be able not to have a setback and our help in this will be the weather. More help will be more extensive vaccination coverage and at the same time airport surveillance to avoid re-introduction of any mutant strain," he said.
Uncertain future for tourism
Asked how he sees things with tourism in the summer, he said there is uncertainty. "Right now things are off the scale. Many European countries are concerned that they will not have the vaccination coverage, which is necessary to limit the transmission of the virus. On the other hand, they have not yet decided whether to open the skies, how to move the tourist, i.e. whether he should carry a vaccination passport or test or both in some cases. There is a sense of uncertainty left,' he added.
The vaccination programme proceeds normally
Dr Karagiannis said the vaccination programme in Cyprus is proceeding normally. "The world has responded to the vaccination call and especially our elderly. From what we see this week the vaccines offered to 90-year-olds were not requested and the Gate was closed from day one, extended to 80s and above and again the available doses were not covered. So we are slowly moving down. At least to protect the most vulnerable in the community," he noted.
He also said another company has produced a vaccine in Britain that appears to treat mutant strains as well. "Of course the company announced its results in phase 3 that vaccines successfully treated the mutated virus offering an efficacy of around 89% which is quite high," he added.
Source: CYPE
