Medical and healthcare workers in the struggle to tackle coronavirus, at Nicosia General Hospital, Cyprus

COVID19: Cyprus cases rocket to 13, new Limassol cluster with 7

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Cyprus on Wednesday reported a three-month record high of new COVID-19 cases, as 13 were identified, seven of which from Limassol where a cluster has formed.

The last time Cyprus reported a double-digit figure of coronavirus infections was on April 28 with 15 cases.

Cyprus now has reported 1,080 coronavirus cases.

Wednesday’s cases were discovered after a total of 1,725 tests were carried out, with seven resulting from the contact tracing of some 139 samples from close contacts of known cases.

Four of the new cases were contacts of a Cypriot couple who returned to the island on July 17 from the Netherlands, found to be positive on July 26. When they first arrived, the test results at the airport were negative, but they both re-tested on their own initiative with a positive result.

Two of Wednesday’s cases were reported to be close contacts of a case identified on Monday in Limassol.

Another case involved the husband of a Filipino woman who was found to be positive on Monday. They had both returned from the Philippines on July 17 and also live in Limassol. The couple had been self-isolating.

The Health Ministry announced that another two cases were identified through some 208 tests carried out on people in special groups.

Five more cases were found after some 469 tests were carried out by private laboratories.

Four of these cases involve Limassol residents, with three having a recent travel history – two had returned from the UK and one from a Greek island.

Earlier in the day, members of the government’s epidemiological advisory team said that plan to propose to the government to take additional measures, focusing on a cluster forming in Limassol.

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