Filenews 11 April 2021
In response to the strong criticism it receives for the government's anti-pandemic strategy, the Ministry of Health gives. As he points out in a communication, an unjust attempt is being made to annihilate the great effort that the whole of society has made with sacrifices over the last 13 months.
In order to restore the real picture, the Ministry of Health lists the following elements:
- Cyprus remains in 1st place in the EU in carrying out diagnostic tests to detect positive CASES OF COVID-19 and continuous surveillance of the epidemiological situation in the country. According to the updated official data published by ECDC (week 13), Cyprus remains first among European Union states in testing, with 40,958 tests per 100,000population . At the same time, our country has the 2nd lowest positivity rate (0.8%) in the EU, which demonstrates the importance of carrying out many tests in the community.
- Since February, when the country attempted to restart after the short period under strict restrictive measures, the main pillar of the effort has been the massive and targeted tests on the general population and workers to ensure the safe reopening of sector of the economy and society . The increased number of cases detected daily is largely expected, since, on the one hand, the population interacts more and, on the other hand, the number of tests carried out is precisely aimed at the early detection of cases and the immediate start of tracing their contacts.
- An important element in the successful management of the pandemic is the fact that our country records one of the lowest mortality rates in the EU (20.3/100,000). This data demonstrates the enormous work done by health professionals in hospitals and the fact that the Health System, with its continuous investments and support, has successfully responded to the maximum possible extent.
- At the same time, the vaccination programme continues at an intensive pace, with the aim of vaccinating more than 60% of the population in the first half of 2021. Cyprus has already achieved the target set by the European Union for vaccination coverage for the elderly, since 82%of people aged 80 and over have received at least the 1st dose of the vaccine . Similarly, in the 70-79age group , at least the 1st dose has been administered at 76%.
- The main targeting through the National Vaccination Plan was from the outset to protect the health of people at increased risk of serious illness. For this reason, in addition to vaccinating older people, vaccination of citizens belonging to vulnerable groups has been given the highest priority. 10,320 people have already been vaccinated and vaccination planning for vulnerable groups continues.
- Up to and including 10 April, 185,341 vaccinations were carried out, of which 133,049 were for the administration of the 1st dose and 52,292 for both doses.
- Cyprus continues to implement its Vaccination Plan with the available licensed vaccines of AstraZeneca, Moderna and Pfizer, and is expected to add the Janssen (Johnson&Johnson) vaccine to its schedule next week. Through the agreements concluded by the European Commission - Cyprus participated in all the agreements in both the initial and the additional - our country has secured the maximum quantities due to it, and it is expected that in total it will receive several instalments for 2million people. In addition to the agreements it will secure through EU procedures, the Ministry of Health is in advanced consultations on the supply of a quantity of the Russian Sputnik-Vaccine when it is authorised by the European Medicines Agency.
Finally, the Ministry states that the government's primary objective is to protect public health and ensure the health of the country's citizens, with a view to a definitive exit from the health crisis and a return to normality. "The sacrifices of citizens and entrepreneurs will only be impacted if we continue with the same commitment and in accordance with the health protocols, until the end of the road. Public Health is not an area for meeting political objectives or for disorienting citizens from our common goal."
Source: eyenews
