Filenews 3 November 2024 - by Dora Christodoulou
Today dawns, at least temporarily, with a retreat of severe weather phenomena in Paphos. This allowed at first light of day the crews of municipal and community authorities, as well as state departments to begin repairing the damage to roads and public spaces, while the wells were inspected from the beginning one by one to confirm that they would be operational in the coming hours or days.
Today shows the full range of extreme phenomena that hit the city and province last night, since everywhere on the roads and open areas, the consequences of the natural disaster are still visible.
The focus of the proceedings today is expected to be the Paphos Hospital, which was significantly affected last night. Following instructions from the President of the Republic, the Executive Director of the SHSO and other officers of the Organization are rushing today to Pafos Hospital in order to immediately record the damages, so that the restoration works can begin immediately, especially in the Thalassaemia Unit, which suffered the most significant damage from the natural disaster. The Government Spokesman also went to Pafos Hospital last night in order to see the situation up close and convey the instructions of President Christodoulides.
In his statements, Mr. Letymbiotis reiterated the President's commitment to the immediate recording and restoration of the damage from Saturday night's extreme weather events, as well as to the wider treatment of the problems presented by parts of the hospital due to the many years since their construction. In addition to repairing those damaged by the natural disaster, Konstantinos Letymbiotis assured, the general construction problems of Pafos Hospital will also be addressed immediately.
The Minister of Health also intervened immediately, describing the images as truly sad and instructing the competent SHSO officers to officially inform him of the exact damage. At the same time, he asked that the SHSO record the danger points in all hospitals in order to immediately repair and operate smoothly. Patient safety was, is and will remain our priority, he stressed.
For its part, the SHSO notes in a statement that the natural disaster that hit Pafos and caused many disasters, also affected the General Hospital where there was an inflow of water to the Thalassaemia Department on the third floor. Initial indications suggest that the problem arose from closing gutters on the fourth-floor terrace, where work is underway to shape the floor, the agency said. In the other wards we did not have any problems and no patients were in danger.
From the very first moment, a mechanism was activated to repair the damage so that the hospital could continue its operation unhindered. In addition, the contractor carrying out the work on the fourth floor was called to take all corrective measures, the SHSO said.
