COVID19: Cyprus continues steady drip of cases

Cyprus health authorities confirmed two new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday with both infections again having a connection to travel.

Tuesday’s results repeated Monday’s two new cases where a travel history was also identified.

The two new positive cases were identified from 1,320 tests, bringing total COVID-19 infections since the outbreak in March to 998.

Cyprus remains one of the few countries with under 1000 COVID-19 cases.

According to the Ministry of Health, one new case was identified from 29 tests carried out on tracing close contacts of known cases.

The case is a contact of the person who tested positive on Monday after arriving from the USA, a high-risk Category C country.

Another case, a Cypriot, was found from 358 tests carried out by private initiative.

The individual also had a recent travel history, he had recently returned from an unnamed low-risk Category A country.

He arrived in Cyprus on 26 June but got tested privately despite showing no coronavirus symptoms.

Visitors from Category A countries do not need to provide a negative coronavirus test before entering.

Meanwhile, some 155 tests carried out by general hospital Microbiology Labs returned negative, as did another 403 tests on repatriated Cypriots or passengers arriving in Cyprus, said the Health Ministry.

Some 277 tests carried out in the context of referrals by GPs and special group screenings through the public health centres were also negative.

On Tuesday, one patient was being treated at Famagusta General, the COVID-19 referral hospital.