COVID19: Cyprus reports 8 cases as family cluster grows

Cyprus reported eight new cases of SARS-CoV-2 on Wednesday, five of whom were related to previously confirmed cases and discovered through contact tracing while two others had a recent travel history.

The Ministry of Health said 2,449 lab tests were conducted during the last 24 hours with the new coronavirus cases raising the total in the Republic of Cyprus to 1,548.

Wednesday’s eight cases are slightly higher than the six on Tuesday.

According to the Health Ministry, two cases were connected to the cluster which now has 14 infections so far.

These two cases are close contacts of a Cypriots who tested positive at a hospital lab on 9 September.

One other case was a family member of a British woman found to be positive to the virus on Monday, while another person is a relative of a known contact.

Another case was a family contact of a person identified at a check carried out at the airport, after arriving on a flight from Austria on 11 September.

A sixth case involved a Cypriot returning from Saudi Arabia who tested at a private lab two days before ending his mandatory self-isolation period as he arrived from a category C country.

A Syrian migrant arriving in Cyprus from Turkey through the Turkish occupied north of the island also tested positive.

The last case involved a Cypriot who was sent by their General Practitioner to be tested at a hospital lab after developing symptoms (sore throat, cough).

According to the Health Ministry, five people are currently being treated at Famagusta General, one of whom is in the hospital’s intensive care unit while one patient was released.

One patient is also being treated at Nicosia General.