COVID19: Cyprus confirms two more cases

Cyprus health authorities on Monday confirmed two new coronavirus cases after reporting three the previous day, taking the total to 985 since the outbreak began on March 9.

Health authorities said the two COVID-19 cases were detected after conducting a below-average 622 lab tests due to the weekend and that some government schemes are coming to an end.

Again, one of the cases involved someone who was repatriated and the other was from private initiative.

The Health Ministry said that according to epidemiological data, one case was detected after testing 143 samples from passengers/repatriated Cypriots.

It involved a Bulgarian permanent resident of Cyprus who returned to the island from Sofia on Sunday.

All track and trace protocols were being followed to test close contacts of that individual, the ministry said.

The other positive case was found among 153 test samples done through private initiative.

It involved a crew member of an oil tanker who was tested along with colleagues by their employer before being assigned.

Cases which came back negative were from 130 tests at the Microbiology Labs of General Hospitals and 192 tests on people belonging to special groups referred by their GPs through the public health centres.

Two patients were treated at Famagusta General which operates as the reference hospital for COVID-19, while another two patients continued to be in Nicosia General Hospital ICU, one of them is on a ventilator.