Filenews 2 January 2023 - by Nicoletta Kouroushi
The situation in China, due to the outbreak of Covid-19 cases, was the focus of an emergency meeting between the Minister of Health and the Advisory Scientific Committee on Monday afternoon. However, decisions on the matter are expected to be taken at a further meeting, which will take place next Tuesday 10 January, following the meetings of the competent European committees.
According to statements by SEE member Dr. Maria Koliou in Filenews, regarding surveillance at airports, it was of particular concern that Cyprus has the peculiarity that it does not have direct flights from China, but those travellers who arrive in our country from this destination come through intermediate stations from states, such as Israel, and which carry out their own epidemiological checks.
As he also pointed out, the possibility of reintroducing the mask on flights was also discussed, but this proposal did not find enough supporters, while the possibility of analyzing wastewater at airports was also put on the table.
At the same time, as he noted, during the week there are other meetings with European committees to coordinate actions, while by next Tuesday all data and actions from the rest of Europe are expected to be evaluated.
"At this stage there is no particular concern, due to the fact that the strains of the virus, which are found in China, are those that already exist in Cyprus", Dr. Koliou pointed out, stressing that it was discussed how to more effectively carry out gene surveillance in the community, in order to identify the existence of new strains of the virus.
Data on China reviewed, says Hadjipantela
In a week's time, the data and whether any measures should be taken will be reviewed, said the Minister of Health, Michalis Hatzipantela, noting that "there is no need to panic at this time".
In his statements after the meeting at the Ministry of Health, Mr. Hadjipantela said that he informed the members of the Commission about the talks he had with the regional director of the World Health Organization, with the director of the Italian Centre for Infectious Diseases but also with the Commissioner for Health of the European Union, Stella Kyriakides. From his talks with the three officials, he noted, "it is clear that at this particular moment, the coronavirus mutation strain, presented in China, already exists in Cyprus, as of August 2022, so there is no need to panic at this time."
He also said that it was decided at the meeting to study the data in the coming days, after both meetings at European Commission level - one was scheduled today and the other, for tomorrow, Tuesday - where more data will be given to the colleagues of the Ministry of Health. "We will have a meeting next Tuesday to study further and whether we should take any measures," he added.
Asked about this, Mr. Hadjipantela also said that the mutation, which was detected in North America, "we are also aware of it in our country and we are studying it very carefully".
There is readiness, says Dr. Panos
On the same subject, Dr. Georgios Panos, in his statements on behalf of the Advisory Committee, said that regarding a strain that exists in America, "at the moment we know that it has 20% more transmissibility, but it is a good strain, so we are not worried, as far as the medical side of things is concerned".
He also pointed out that there was "an extensive review" of the data with all the proposals that emerged and after a list of situations has been studied, the Commission will meet again in a week's time to take concrete decisions."
"Cyprus is currently well prepared, the executives circulating both in China and in Europe are executives that the Ministry of Health is aware of and there is readiness for their development," he noted.
He also said that the Commission "has prepared a number of thoughts" and that in a week's time there will be another meeting, "so that precise measures can be taken, which may be adopted if the situations are such as to require them".
"So far," he concluded, "things remain on a smooth course, we are happy with the data of the Republic of Cyprus and the Ministry of Health, so with this we will proceed and review in a week."
