The clinics of the personal doctors of the GHS are under incredible pressure, as citizens by the dozens ask for help due to flu-like symptoms and other seasonal infections.

Characteristic was the statement of the vice president of the Scientific Society of Personal Doctors Mary Avraamidou to Filenews, who said that "the past week was the worst, in terms of mass attendance or mass morbidity since the day we operated our clinics as personal doctors. It's a situation we've never experienced before in our doctors' offices."

"At the end of the week we started seeing the complications of flu, bronchitis, etc. There are quite a few such incidents this year."

"At European level and not only in Cyprus, it is observed that the flu this year came earlier by two weeks and at the same time the respiratory syncytial virus, RSV, persists and continues to circulate among citizens. This epidemic is a phenomenon that is not only observed in Cyprus according to the European Centre for Infection Control," Avraamidou said.

Citizens, Avraamidou said, "when they have symptoms, should be limited. In our clinics we invite our patients to come when symptoms persist, when fever recurs, when there are indications that we need to intervene medically."

At the same time, he said, "and with the tests we must persevere. When we have symptoms and the test comes back negative, or we don't have flu or RSV or Covid-19 for which there are tests but we have another virus or we have to insist with the tests, repeat because in many cases it delays the result coming out positive."

Regarding the situation in Cyprus in general, the Accident and Emergency Departments are under enormous pressure and around the clock there are patients with severe symptoms of infections who are waiting, often for hours, for transfer to hospital wards. It is indicative that by noon yesterday, around ten patients were waiting for admission at the Emergency Department of Nicosia General Hospital.

Nurses are already talking about an uncontrollable situation in hospitals, doctors are calling on citizens to take measures to prevent the transmission of circulating viruses and pharmacists are reintroducing their earlier request for citizens to be vaccinated in private pharmacies.

The SHSO "makes every effort to serve patients who need help," SHSO spokesman Charalambos Charilaou said, indicating that "additional beds have been developed to meet the needs."

"In order to deal with this explosion of incidents," the president of the Pancyprian Guild of Government Doctors, Sotiris Koumas, told F, "there must be cooperation from everyone. State hospitals have undertaken – this time too – to carry out a huge task and must have all the necessary support. Speaking as a doctor, I want to urge people to be careful. Take all necessary protective measures, when they show symptoms to be limited and in general we all need to be careful not to transmit viruses."

The outbreak that is being observed, the president of the Pancyprian Pharmaceutical Association, Plutarchos Georgiades, said, reiterating an earlier request by pharmacists, "might have been avoided if flu vaccines were made by neighbourhood pharmacies, which are the most easily accessible place of health services." In all EU countries, he added, "influenza vaccination is done by pharmacists and there is a huge response from the public, leading to very high percentages, up to 99%, in vaccination coverage. Pharmacists are professionals, they have the qualifications, in addition to their studies, most have gone through relevant seminars on vaccination and can offer this service safely."