Hours before Cyprus is to announce stricter measures to stem the coronavirus spike, health authorities on Wednesday announced the deaths of another three hospital patients with COVID-19.
Cyprus has reported six deaths of COVID-19 patients in the past 48 hours.
The three who died were a 92-year-old woman who was being treated at Famagusta General’s Acute Care Unit, a 71-year-old man and a 62-year-old woman, treated at Nicosia General’s ICU.
For all three the cause of death was COVID-19, with the woman aged 62 having no underlying medical conditions.
On Tuesday, the Health Ministry announced the deaths of another three elderly patients, two women and one man.
The deaths of the two women, aged 86 and 80, were attributed directly to COVID-19 while the death of the man, 62, was caused by a pulmonary embolism due to other underlying health conditions.
The 86-year-old woman was the third person to die after being transferred from Limassol’s Sokrateion care home where 37 people including 20 residents were found positive to the virus.
According to a Health Ministry statement on Wednesday, the total number of deaths attributed directly to COVID-19 is 32.
Of those who died 19 were men (59%) and 13 were women (41%) with an average age of 74.
To date, 41 people infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus have died in Cyprus.
The latest deaths come during a spike in cases with experts warning that if the virus is not contained, Cyprus will be mourning more dead.
Scientists have warned the surge in cases would inevitably lead to an increase in deaths, stressing that the increase in hospital admissions of COVID-19 patients is an indication of what is to come.
On Monday, the number of COVID-19 patients in hospitals continued to rise at a worrying pace reaching 85, putting a strain on the national health system.
This number increased from the 77 patients being treated in hospitals on Sunday, up from 69 on Saturday, that also saw a record daily number of cases at 314.
There are currently 76 COVID-19 patients in hospital with 54 in the Famagusta General, acting as the country’s referral hospital for coronavirus.
Among the patients in Famagusta General is a 15-year-old boy without any other underlying health problems.
On Wednesday, the government will introduce more measures, following a meeting between President Nicos Anastasiades and his cabinet.
After the President has addressed the nation, Health Minister Constantinos Ioannou will announce the tougher restrictions.
Ioannou tweeted Monday: “These are difficult times. We are doing all that his humanly possible to face the danger. Our priority remains the protection of public health.”
On Tuesday, Cyprus saw 198 new SARS-CoV-2 cases up from 111 but lower than the record 314 reported on Saturday, that prompted the government to take action.
With 1,930 cases reported so far in November, the month is fast catching up with the total 2,611 coronavirus cases in October, the worst month on record since the pandemic in March.
In total Cyprus has reported 6,296 coronavirus cases.
