Filenews 16 February 2021 - by Marilena Panagi
Dangerous for the monitoring and proper recording of the epidemiological picture of Cyprus the scene in the tracing process, since on the one hand the positive incidents that are never reported to the competent authority and on the other hand the refusal of people who are positively identified in the virus to declare their contacts or even their workplace, make it difficult for the officials of the competent team of the Ministry of Health.
As the head of the tracing team, Valentinos Silvestros, explained to "F", "the phenomena we have been reporting lately are of particular concern to us since, if we do not have the cooperation of the citizens, if we do not detect the new outbreaks of transmission of the virus in time, then we will never be able to control the situation that has plagued us all for a year".
In all likelihood, he said, "right now in society, there are people who are positive for the virus, who either don't know it, since they've never been registered as contacts, or we don't know them since they've never been recorded on our own lists."
As a result, "we cannot, on the one hand, proceed to proper tracing, which will help us to stem the spread of the coronavirus, but also not be able, on the other hand, to have a clearer picture of the course of the pandemic in Cyprus".
According to Mr. Silvestro, "the large number of rapid diagnostic tests now carried out freely in the private sector, by pharmacies or unlicensed laboratories, results in people being positive for the virus but never getting their data near us."
This, he said, "is also seen from hospital data since patients are admitted for hospitalization, they themselves know that they are positive for the virus, but on our lists they are nowhere to be recorded."
In this way, "we waste valuable time, we do not detect their contacts in time and we all know what this entails for the spread of the virus".
In addition, "we see a reluctance among citizens who are reported as cases to give us their contacts or even their workplace while a large percentage of people, which is not justified by any official data, tell us that they are unemployed, in order to avoid possibly tracing in their workplaces".
At the same time, "there are some who, when informed that they are contacts, go to the sampling points, undergo rapid diagnostic tests and when their result is negative they are repeated and in several cases are not even limited".
The phenomena faced by the tracing team are identified to a greater extent in the province of Limassol, Mr. Silvestros said, stressing however that "the reluctance of citizens to declare their contacts or even the refusal of some who are contacts to undergo examination in public health clinics is a phenomenon in Cyprus".
As far as Limassol is concerned, "where we see that once again we now have a higher number of cases, our team has also started tracing in "secondary contacts" (contacts, that is), in order to prevent possible chains".
The number of elderly people infected is increasing again
After several weeks in which the number of elderly people infected with the coronavirus decreased, in the last ten days the picture has been reversed again. According to official data from the tracing team, "the transmission was domestic or by persons responsible for the home care of the elderly". The situation is being closely monitored, as we are informed by scientists, as the elderly are the predominantly high-risk group in the population.
Increased transmission of coronavirus, but observed in the last two weeks and in specific workplaces operating in all provinces, such as pharmaceutical companies, industrial food units, food retailers, retail businesses, etc. According to the Ministry of Health, "at first sight, it appears that health measures and protocols are not being faithfully complied with. Therefore, the health services and the relevant departments of the Ministry of Labour have intensified on-the-spot checks targeted at these sites in order to intervene in a timely manner, where and where the guidelines are not faithfully applied."
