COVID19: More Cyprus cases linked to Limassol

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Three new COVID-19 cases were reported on Monday raising the total number of coronavirus infections in Cyprus to 1,060.

Two of Monday’s infections were directly connected to a cluster forming in Limassol while the other one involving a Filipino woman permanent resident returning to Cyprus, also living in the town.

State health officials have warned against complacency and insisted that the public maintain simple protocols such as social distancing and wearing protective masks wherever possible after a worrying number of cases in Limassol suggests people are defying these rules.

Two of the new COVID-19 pandemic cases reported on Monday involved close contacts of a case found in Limassol on 24 July.

This was considered as an ‘orphan’ case, meaning that authorities have not traced the source as it is not connected to a travel history or a previously known case.

These two were tested along with another 101 contacts of known cases.

A third case involving a Filipino woman who returned on 17 July was tested privately after developing symptoms. The woman also lives and works in Limassol.

Her results were amongst 177 samples taken at private laboratories.

According to epidemiological data, some 1,007 tests from people returning to Cyprus and international arrivals and another 165 from the state hospital microbiological labs came back negative.

So did 326 tests carried out on resident of Kato Pyrgos, a village in the district of Nicosia, bordering the Green Line on the north coast.

The tests were conducted after residents of the village requested to be tested as they need a coronavirus test to pass through the crossing point at Limnitis to work in Nicosia.

Alternatively, the residents would have to take the long way round passing through Paphos to get to Nicosia.

According to the Health Ministry, the cost of the tests will be covered by the local community.

Meanwhile, Turkish Cypriot authorities have reported a total of 135 COVID-19 cases and four deaths.