Cyprus will not be easing measures ahead of the festive season as December is on its way to becoming the worst month since the coronavirus pandemic started.
Daily new cases reached a record of 416 on Monday, from the previous high of 369 on Saturday, with health officials announcing some 2,302 new cases and 14 deaths in just the first seven days of the month.
On Tuesday, President Nicos Anastasiades will meet with the Health, Labour, Finance and Education ministers to re-evaluate the situation. Health Minister Constantinos Ioannou has warned that, at best, measures will remain in effect, if not made stricter.
Although measures were initially designed to be partially lifted on Monday, December 14, ahead of the festive season, the competent minister on Tuesday said that authorities had warned that this was subject to the epidemiological situation of the island seeing some improvement.
“It simply does not seem to be happening right now. We are assessing the situation and analysis of the data and the findings show that there is no room for relaxing measures,” Ioannou said in comments to the Cyprus News Agency.
He also told CNA that last week saw a new high regarding the epidemiological burden.
Ioannou noted that “we are deeply concerned, given that despite the measures taken so far, the Cyprus picture has not improved to the desired degree.”
Asked by the CNA whether a complete lockdown is in the cards, Ioannou said that a lockdown could not be ruled out.
“For the time being, we are the only EU country that has not reinstated a total lockdown, but this does not mean that it has been ruled out as an option,” he said.
The health minister added, “our effort is to hold out for as long as possible, without having to implement harsh restrictions and a lockdown, until a large percentage of the population is vaccinated.”
He reiterated that “protecting public health has always been the main drive behind our plans and decisions we’ve taken”, noting that they did not ignore the financial costs, and the social and psychological cost that the pandemic has brought to citizens.
He noted that “a lockdown was imposed during the first outbreak of the pandemic, as our knowledge about the pandemic was minimal and we needed time to properly organise and shield the national health system”.
Ioannou argued that during the second wave of the pandemic, health authorities are focusing on controlling the deterioration of the situation, while keeping society and the economy running.
The existing decrees are valid until December 13, with final decisions expected to be taken by the government and announced before the weekend.
Ioannou will be presenting the latest epidemiological data to the President, on the basis of which decision regarding measures which will apply from December 14 will be taken, which could possibly include Christmas and the New Year.
The COVID-19 infections tally on Monday stood at 12,867 and 63 deaths. Just in the first week of December alone Cyprus health authorities reported 2,302 new cases. The worst month on record was November with 6,157 new COVID-19 cases confirmed.
