Filenews 19 July 2025 - by Marilena Panagi
The coronavirus is reminiscent of its existence, personal doctors in Cyprus in the last two weeks have started recording cases, public hospitals have been called to treat patients and the European Centre for Infection Control (ECDC) is collecting data on increased cases and hospitalizations across the EU. It even warns that immunity in the population has declined due to low transmission in winter and very low vaccination coverage rates and a further increase in cases is expected in the coming weeks.
"Covid-19 is here and as it seems in the last fifteen days the transmission has started to be more intense," the president of the scientific society of personal and family doctors, Mary Avraamidou, told "F".
"In May we had almost zero cases, in mid-June we started to see patients with Covid-19 but in small numbers which in recent weeks have started to grow with the trend seems to be increasing," he added.
"It is very important that we all remember its existence. We should take our measures and when we have symptoms, take tests and wear our mask when we are in places where there are other people. Those around us, especially the elderly, can be put in serious danger. We should not assume that the coronavirus is gone and over. It has never left, it has no seasonality and now with the increased contacts and the increased mobility due to holidays we have to be very careful. We have already noticed an increase compared to the previous period".
"In recent weeks we have observed a change compared to the previous months," the spokesman of the State Health Services Organization, Charalambos Charilaou, told "F".
"We have seen a mobility again in relation to hospitalizations and although the numbers are very small, we can still safely say that since we have started to see admissions to hospitals, it means that in society we have transmission of the virus with the general picture showing a change compared to winter and we can say until mid-June".
"It is characteristic what our doctors tell us after the admissions we had mainly last week. We are told: the coronavirus reminds us that it has never left, it is here and there is no room to relax, especially when it comes to protecting our most vulnerable and elderly".
"The population's immunity has likely declined after a winter of low circulation of SARS-CoV-2, which may lead to increases not only in SARS-CoV-2 infections, but also in hospitalizations in the coming weeks, especially among groups at risk of severe disease, such as the elderly," the ECDC said in its epidemiological surveillance report this week, adding: "During the recent winter season, COVID-19 vaccination coverage in older adults was suboptimal in several EU/EEA countries, with only one country achieving more than 80% coverage and seven countries achieving more than 50% coverage in people over 80 years of age, for whom the burden of severe outcomes is the highest."
Regarding the summer months and the period until the end of the year, the ECDC warns that "the reduction of the population's immunity to SARS-CoV-2 alone is sufficient to cause a COVID-19 wave in the EU/EEA, in the absence of changes in the properties of the variables for transmissibility and/or severity" and concludes by noting that surveillance must continue throughout the year and be reported without delay. This is especially important given the absence of a clear seasonal pattern of transmission of SARS-CoV-2."
