The rate of detection of suspected coronavirus cases in Cyprus has been high with 800 inspections carried out so far, according to the Ministry of Health.
In a statement on Friday, the Ministry said that countries with a bigger population than Cyprus, such as Finland and the Czech Republic, have around the same number of suspected cases, despite having double the number of positive cases.
“Action now concentrates on isolating the virus’ diaspora in the community since a large number of people are expected to become ill,” said the ministry.
“The aim is to properly manage the outbreak and protect vulnerable groups of the population which are more susceptible to the virus and if they become sick, they will need to be admitted and treated,” it added.
Cyprus says it’s implementing the strictest measures with arrivals from European countries undergoing temperature checks.
These checks will be done from Saturday for all visitors/travellers.
The Unit for Surveillance and Control of Communicable Diseases, in cooperation with the Ministry of Health, has developed mechanisms to promptly detect suspected cases which are immediately placed under self-isolation to halt the spread of the virus.
It added that even with timely intervention the incidence of positive cases is expected to increase.
“Self-isolation can break the virus transmission chain in the community since, during this time, these cases will not come into contact with other members of the community.”
Based on the data so far, 14 confirmed cases have been recorded, of which nine had contacted the call centre after returning from countries with active COVID19 and when symptoms developed.
Two more cases were detected at the airport from temperature checks, two are in self-isolation and there is one random case with detection already underway.
The Ministry of Health said that as Cyprus ranks second after Italy in the number of `suspected cases` in proportion to the population, the number of confirmed positive cases will increase.
Population | Checks | % | Positive | |
Czechia | 10,600,000 | 900 | 0.01 | 117 |
Finland | 5,000,000 | 720 | 0.01 | 155 |
Cyprus | 1,000,000 | 800 | 0.08 | 14 |