COVID-19 referral hospital Famagusta General has evacuated its pathology ward to make more room for coronavirus patients as their numbers have shot up this week.
The pathology department of the Famagusta General Hospital will now be treating coronavirus patients, the hospital’s management said on Friday.
According to the Cyprus News Agency, the hospital received instructions to empty the unit after the large increase in cases in recent days.
Some 22 patients who were treated in the ward with conditions such cardiological problems were transferred to other wards of the hospital, private clinics, and some to Larnaca General.
“If the increase in cases continues and more people need to be hospitalised, other parts of the hospital will be evacuated to make room for COVID-19 patients and only the A&E department will remain open,” said the hospital’s management.
Reportedly, the hospital has also temporarily increased its beds in the COVID ward to 35 from 25, in a measure to accommodate the increase in patients admitted until such time the pathological ward is ready to receive patients.
According to Philenews website, authorities have decided that if patient admissions breach capacity, the whole hospital will be used for COVID-19 patients.
The hospital has a total of 88 beds and can accommodate up to 100 patients with some modifications.
Experts are concerned over the increase of COVID-19 patients needing to be hospitalized as the numbers of daily infections remain firmly at three-digit figures.
The coronavirus second wave is now widespread in Cyprus with the 14-day cumulative rate of COVID-19 reaching its highest level at 158.1 per 100,000 population according to updated data up to 24 October.
It is three times higher than the rate recorded during the peak first wave of the pandemic when Cyprus’ rate was slightly over 50 for the first two weeks in April.
Phileleftheros quoted Professor of epidemiology and a government advisor Dr George Nicolopoulos saying “it is not yet clear whether we have reached the peak of this new wave while we do not see numbers dropping anytime soon”.
“We are in a critical situation, we see every day what is happening in the hospitals, there is an increasing trend compared to the previous two weeks.
“Everything will depend on the number of cases to be reported over the next 3-4 days,” said Nicolopoulos.
There is usually a two to three week lag between infection rates and hospital admissions.
