Cyprus health authorities on Saturday confirmed 30 new COVID-19 cases which bring the outbreak total to 426, including 10 in the British Bases, and nine deaths since the pandemic.
In the Turkish occupied north of the island, there were no new cases recorded on Saturday, their total remains at 88 and two deaths.
Divided Cyprus now has 514 confirmed cases and 11 deaths.
Out of the Republic’s 30 new cases, 13 people were traced among the contacts of already confirmed cases, three people come from the Aradippou cluster, one person came from abroad, the origin of 13 others is being investigated.
Ministry of Health adviser on the pandemic, Dr Leontios Kostrikis, said the new cases were confirmed after 698 tests were carried out.
The 426 COVID-19 cases were confirmed after 10,154 tests were carried out by the Cyprus Institute of Neurology and Genetics, the Microbiology Department of Nicosia and Limassol General Hospital as well as private labs.
Out of the 426 cases, 282 people were infected through contact in Cyprus.
Some 33 people who were hospitalised after testing positive to the virus have recovered.
Kostrikis said that samples have begun to be taken from COVID-19 clusters in Paphos and Aradippou by NIPD Genetics Lab and this will continue during the next few days.
A total of 1000 samples will be taken from Paphos and 525 from Aradippou. Results will be announced early next week.
Kostrikis said the number of new cases remains within the estimations of the scientific team and that the next week is crucial because it will help present a better image about the epidemic behaviour of the virus after tightening the restrictive measures.
He stressed there is still no medical treatment, self-protection remains the best way to tackle the virus.
Dr Marios Loizou of the Cyprus State Health Services Organisation said that according to the data available, 37 people were hospitalized at Famagusta General the COVID-19 reference hospital. Four of them are being treated in the Intensive Care Unit.
Ten people are now on breathing machines, one at Limassol General Hospital Intensive Care Unit and nine at Nicosia General Hospital Intensive Care Unit.
Nine other confirmed cases are being treated in other wards and their condition is stable. The situation of all these patients is until now stable but critical, Loizou said.
He said one of the positive developments during the day is that one more patient at Limassol General Hospital Intensive Care Unit was taken off a ventilator and his situation is stable.
The first patient removed from a ventilator was transferred to the Famagusta Hospital for further treatment.
