COVID19:  Cyprus has not seen the last of coronavirus

Coronavirus is still in the community, but the situation in Cyprus is under control, said government adviser on the outbreak, virologist Dr Peter Karayiannis.

Karayiannis said on Monday that the latest case of coronavirus, following a five-day lull, proves that Cyprus is not completely COVID-free.

A positive COVID-19 test found on Sunday came from the testing programme for 10,000 people who returned to work after the lockdown was eased in May.

The latest case involved a female employee at a hotel in Paphos.

“It did not come from a tourist or from the north. This means that we still need to be careful and abide by the Health Ministry’s guidelines,” said Karayiannis a professor at the University of Nicosia’s Medical School.

“The next step now is to trace the positive case’s contacts…it did not stem from the tracking of known cases; therefore, we need to investigate further,” he added.

Karayiannis said that specialists will need to determine whether this is a new case or an older one that just happened to be discovered when hotel employees were tested.

The virologist stressed that the situation was not worrying, yet, as they had expected to see some cases in recently opened sectors of the economy.

He expects more sporadic cases to come from within the community.

Regarding the opening of the crossing points and airports, the virologist remains optimistic.

On the crossing points, Karayiannis said that he is not worried.

“As long as both sides stick to what they have publicly declared that crossers will need a test from a reputable lab and random testing will be carried out on the spot.

As far as airports are concerned, since passengers who arrive are either tested in their country of origin or upon their arrival, we know whether they are carrying the virus.” he argued.

Karayiannis said that authorities will still have to monitor the situation closely and “act accordingly should there be a spike in cases brought by people coming from abroad”.