Filenews 2 March 2021
Concern is being raised about the large transmission chains of the coronavirus in Limassol Province, with field epidemiologist and head of the tracing process, Valentino Silvestro, saying that we will not see a reduction in daily incidents recorded, for the next few weeks.
In a statement, Mr. Silvestros said that the increased numbers of incidents in Limassol are justified by chains that come mainly from schools, five in total, with the largest involving at least 30 people.
The figures relate to last week, while weekend data is already being analysed, with indications showing the spread of the virus from children to family members.
"We are talking about 109 primary school pupils last week, that is about 100 families. If a parent is infected, then they will transmit the virus to their work," he said.
According to Mr. Silvestro, the next five days are expected to show the extent of the spread of the virus within the students' families, and he noted that he does not expect, for the next few weeks, to decrease – but perhaps increase – in the numbers of new daily occurrences.
"Dispersion is a matter of adherence to protocols, and if students are crowded at the break and teachers don't follow the measures when they're in the offices, that favours dispersion," he said, noting that there are reports from teachers about students being presented in schools while they are symptomatic.
If a child has symptoms, he continued, parents should not send it to school, however a teacher has symptoms, he should ask permission. "This was before the pandemic when you were sick and it is, I think, self-evident things that we forgot," he added.
In the case of the two elementary schools in K. Polemidia, where large transmission chains were presented, he said the evidence shows that the virus was transmitted by a teacher, who teaches in both of these schools, and who showed symptoms after undergoing a rapid test with a negative indication.
Asked about this, Mr. Silvestros said that in addition to the large chains in schools, transmission chains are also located in Limassol General Hospital and some banking institutions, "since it is documented that, in offices where there are employees next to each other and take a break together, the virus spreads more easily".
He also said that, from 20 to 26 February, 56 teachers, 109 primary school pupils, 25 high school pupils and 5 kindergarten pupils were infected in schools across Cyprus. In total, he continued, these incidents affect 43 primary schools, 19 high schools, 15 private schools and 9 kindergartens.
Expecting that the numbers of new cases will remain large for the next few weeks, Costas Silvestros said that "we are at a difficult point, but manageable for the time being" and that "the point is to limit the world, which is close contact, so as not to spread the virus and to see a doubling or triple of cases".
Asked whether the situation would affect decisions to relax, he indicated that "we analyse the data, identify the problem and refer to the relevant bodies and it is the decision of the Minister of Health and the Advisory Committee".
Source: CYPE
