in-cyprus 23 June 2021 - by gavriella
Dr Petros Karayiannis, Professor of Microbiology/Molecular Virology at the University of Nicosia Medical School, has told CNA that the increase in new coronavirus cases is alarming, adding that vaccination is the only way to address the problem.
“Unfortunately, the 122 new cases were a shocking result” he said, referring to the number of cases announced on Tuesday.
He said that if citizens do not abide by the health protection measures, then the situation will get out of control.
Noting that for the moment, it is not clear how many of the cases are unvaccinated people, he said that he would guess that the majority of them are not vaccinated.
Asked if the increase in cases is due to the delta variant, Dr. Karagiannis said “probably yes” adding that this variant has been in the community since April.
He said that with the opening of the airports and the arrival of tourists we will have to deal with more cases and noted that stricter measures should be in place at the airports.
Asked if he believes that there could be a fourth wave of the coronavirus in the autumn, he said that this will depend on the development of the the current outbreak.
Dr. Karayiannis expressed the view that this would affect the tourist season this summer, noting that Cyprus instead of being in the green list of countries, it could remain in the orange and maybe even end up in the red category.
“What needs to be done and we need to understand is that vaccines are the only barrier against the virus and we know they are effective,” he concluded.
(CNA)
