COVID19: Clusters in Limassol, Larnaca worsen

Coronavirus clusters in Limassol and Larnaca are growing while the number of cases with a travel history from Greece reaches worrying level.

The Health Ministry on Sunday reported a total of 26 coronavirus cases, including 15 announced earlier in the day connected to the Limassol and Larnaca clusters.

Out of the 15 new SARS-CoV-2 infections, 10 resulted from the targeted sampling of 611 individuals from a state-sponsored programme that aims to test 3,000 people in Limassol.

Another four were detected in Larnaca among contacts of the person who arrived from the USA and violated her quarantine to attend a dinner and then she organized a party for her daughter.

According to the Health Ministry’s latest report, the woman is responsible for transmitting COVID-19 to at least another 14 people.

The climb in new coronavirus infections has been fuelled by people who broke quarantine regulations.

Eleven of the new cases were detected among 1,977 lab tests including five cases with a travel connection to Greece.

One person arrived from Athens on Saturday, three passengers arriving from Thessaloniki on Friday, one via Germany.

They were randomly tested at Larnaca airport.

One more case concerned a Cypriot who arrived at Paphos airport on Saturday, returning from the popular Greek holiday island of Mykonos.

Another person was found positive after arriving at Larnaca airport from Zurich on Sunday.

A Doxa FC footballer who arrived on 27 July from Portugal and a pregnant woman who was diagnosed after being tested before her admission to hospital were also among the new infections.

Cyprus has reported a total of 1,150 coronavirus cases since the outbreak with daily figures reaching the same levels as the peak in April during the lockdown.