COVID19: Cyprus second wave to abate late April

A resurgence in Cyprus COVID-19 cases in recent weeks will begin to calm down by the end of April with infections declining in the next two weeks, according to scientist Peter Karayiannis, a government advisor.

The virologist and University of Nicosia Medical School professor said normalcy should return before May with more lockdown restrictions lifted.

“The situation concerning the numbers of daily Covid cases is normalizing,” said Karayiannis.

He told CNA that daily cases may have gone above 400 but the test positivity rate hovers around 1%.

“The attention should focus on whether the health care system can cope,” Karayiannis said.

A record number of 221 hospital patients were being treated for COVID-19 on Tuesday, up from 205 on Sunday, of whom 42 are critical.

COVID hospitals are said to be at 80% capacity after having less than 100 patients last month.

“We should turn our attention to new admissions, there is pressure as the number of patients is the same with January and February when we introduced more strict measures.”

Those being admitted to hospital are younger as elder people have been vaccinated, Karayiannis said.

“I believe that admissions will normalise and we will see more discharges from hospitals.”