COVID19: Cyprus reports 13 new cases, concern over local infection clusters

The Cyprus health ministry reported 13 new SARS-CoV-2 cases on Friday, one less than the day before, raising the total number of coronavirus infections to date to 1,318, but with health officials concerned by the rate of local infections.

Ministry officials said they were worried that nine of the cases were locally transmitted, suggesting that personal health protocols and rules to combat the coronavirus pandemic were not being adhered to.

Throughout the week, the ministry has been appealing to the general public to maintain simple social distancing rules, especially in public areas, with the local summer holidays reaching a peak and many going to events, such as pool parties.

Already, two more people were tested positive Friday who were linked to a pool party cluster, raising that number to ten infections.

The rest tested positive after contact tracing to colleagues in separate workplaces who also tested positive a few days earlier.

On Friday morning, state broadcaster CyBC’s management issued a memo to all staff saying that one of their employees had tested positive after returning home from holidays overseas, but that the person was quarantined before he returned to work.

Of the other cases reported on Friday, one was a patient prepped for medical treatment at a state hospital, two had just returned from holidays in Hungary on Thursday and were tested as part of a wider sampling at all airports, while the final case was an immigrant currently at the Kokkinotrimithia refugee shelter and has been moved to the Eden centre near Larnaca, a retirement facility that has been converted to accommodate Covid-19 patients.