Filenews 22 June 2021
A visit to Famagusta General Hospital was made today by the Minister of Health, Konstantinos Ioannou, during which he oversaw the progress of the projects for the expansion of the Hospital and again thanked the staff for the important work they have done in recent months to manage the pandemic.
Speaking as part of his visit, the Health Minister said expansion work had effectively been completed and the installation of the equipment at the new site was pending. "The capacity of the Hospital has actually doubled and this is pleasing, because it is an infrastructure that will also be needed to treat patients with coronavirus, but it is also an infrastructure that will remain for the expansion of other clinics," he said.
In addition, on the occasion of his visit to the reference hospital, Mr. Ioannou once again thanked the hospital staff for their contribution over the last few months to tackle the pandemic, as well as for the fact that "they have made us proud of all the effort and excellent results we have in Cyprus in terms of "as far as hospitalizations have been concerned in the last 15 months."
Asked if he was concerned that there has been an increase in the positivity rate in recent days, even though the number of hospitalisations remains low, the Minister conveyed his concern that in recent days "there has been an increase in the positivity rate and especially in rapid detection tests that give us a direct picture of the situation. In yesterday's results, the positivity rate has actually doubled and this is worrying. Further worrying is the fact that there has been a growing interest in vaccination, while the Gate has been open since last Friday, very few have made an appointment for vaccination. As has been shown, vaccination has results. At ages where vaccination coverage is now available, there are no more cases observed, while in the under-30s where the necessary vaccination coverage does not currently exist, cases are rising. The only way to prevent a new outbreak of the pandemic is by increasing vaccinations and that is why we are appealing to the public that they come to be vaccinated and, moreover, to respect individual protection measures. We have seen in recent days that a number of people are no longer complying with individual protection measures and it is not a matter of either surveillance or the imposition of additional measures. Alas, after 15 months of pandemics, we must impose on the world to abide by the measures. We must experience, we must learn to live with the crown, to observe the measures, otherwise, if we continue as we go, we will observe a new outbreak of the pandemic."
Commenting on professor of pharmacology in Greece that a possible 4th wave of the pandemic will mainly affect the unvaccinated and asked if he shares this position and what actions are planned to convince younger ages to be vaccinated, the Minister of Health noted characteristically that from the data of Cyprus and other countries where vaccination has progressed, it appears that the vast majority of cases and hospitalizations are unvaccinated individuals. "If we want to protect our health and the health of our own we must be vaccinated. Efforts are being made, there is a campaign to inform the world, we are also making appeals to the world, but it is up to everyone to be persuaded to come and get vaccinated. The benefits of vaccination are there, they are real and anyone can evaluate them and come to be vaccinated," said Mr Ioannou.
