COVID19: Cyprus reports 2nd death this week, 21 new cases

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A man with no underlying health conditions has died, the second death in as many days, with a further 21 new cases of Covid-19 reported on Wednesday, raising the total number of infections in Cyprus to 1,897.

The health ministry said that the latest coronavirus victim was a 62 year old man who was being treated at Nicosia General hospital’s intensive care unit. An 82 year old woman died on Tuesday, the first death in more than a month.

The health authorities said the latest death was directly attributed to SARS-CoV-2, with the total number of deaths since the pandemic erupted rising to 24 – 17 men and 7 women – with an average age of 72 years.

The health ministry added that the total number of deaths of patients found positive with SARS-CoV-2 rose to 31.

Health minister Constantinos Ioannou warned earlier in the day that Cyprus’ COVID-19 situation was satisfactory but fragile and was worried that things could get out of hand if protocols are not followed.

Ioannou told a press conference on Wednesday, that while health authorities expect a rise in COVID-19 cases, especially as winter draws nearer, there is concern about the epidemiological analysis of infections.

Of the 21 new cases reported on Wednesday, 9 were discovered through contact tracing, 9 were from nationwide testing of 2,095 samples, one was referred by a GP and one was a teenager linked to a local football club.

Six positive tests were travel related.

One was from India on September 28 and needed to be released from quarantine, despite 12 days not having passed from the travel date. One had returned from London on October 3 with a negative test, but was submitted to a second test in order to visit a relative, and was found to be positive.

A couple from the UK travelled to Cyprus on September 30 with a negative test in hand, despite one of them reporting symptoms a day earlier. Both had fever and felt weakness on Sunday.

Another passenger arrived from London on Saturday, October 3, with a negative test but had a fever on Wednesday and was tested positive, while the sixth travel-related case was a flight attendant from Portugal who was tested as part of the airline’s routine programme.

Of the nine cases identified through contact tracing, all had contact with positive cases. One of them is linked to a cluster that has its roots in a care home in Nicosia, while two others were tied to another cluster that numbers five people so far.

The final case is a high school student from Nicosia district, who plays for Halkanoras Idaliou, making this the sixth football club to have reported a positive case in the past month as championships resumed and training sessions were held in defiance of strict health measures.

The health ministry said that four patients are being treated for SARS-CoV-2 at Famagusta General, three have been released, and two more remain in intensive care in Nicosia General.