COVID19: New cases, patient numbers drop; diabetics to get vaccine

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Cyprus reported two deaths from COVID-19, one of whom had been vaccinated, but new cases and patient numbers dropped on Sunday, as diabetics and those considered obese are next on the national inoculation programme.

The health ministry said that 326 new cases of SARS-CoV-2 were diagnosed from 55,090 tests, slightly down from Saturday’s 334, while 196 patients are currently admitted in state hospitals for treatment, three more than the day before but equal to Friday’s patient numbers.

The health ministry said that 52 patients remain critical, compared to 51 on Saturday and 53 the day before that.

Two people died in the last 24 hours, with their death attributed to COVID-19, one of whom had already been vaccinated, a similar scenario to Saturday’s two deaths.

A 69 year old woman, with underlying health issues, had received the first dose of the coronavirus vaccine, but died at Nicosia General.

The other victim was a 74 year old man, also with underlying health issues. This raised the death toll since the pandemic started to 252, of whom 21 were in March.

On Friday, Government Spokesman Kyriacos Koushos confirmed he was positive for the coronavirus after he came into contact with an infected person earlier in the week. Koushos had been vaccinated with the first jab of the AstraZeneca vaccine a week earlier.

The health ministry said that the 326 new cases of SARS-CoV-2, based on the 55,000 PCR and rapid tests, produced a test positivity rate of 0.59%, far below the 0.99% a week ago.

This raised the total of all infections since March last year to 44,631.

The positive cases of the day were attributed to 75 from contact traces, 34 from private labs and hospital tests, five were identified in migrant shelters, and 212 from the national antigen rapid test programme.

Of these, 80 were in Limassol with a test positivity rate of 0.61%, above the national average, followed by 66 infections in Nicosia, 34 in Larnaca, 13 in Paphos and 10 in Famagusta district.

Sunday’s results also included nine positive cases of COVID-19 identified from a week-long testing programme of 8,461 tests on location at businesses, public organisations and large employers.

 

Inoculation for diabetics, obese

Meanwhile, the health ministry announced that the inoculation appointments platform will open on Monday morning for diabetics and clinically obese persons.

The portal will remain open until 7pm on Thursday, April 1, and will accept 19,246 appointments.

Eligible to apply are patients registered as having Type I and Type II diabetes, as well as persons with acute obesity, regardless of age.

Other types of diabetes will be eligible for inoculation appointments as of mid-April, the health ministry said.

The appointments may be registered by the family physician or directly on the national health system (GHS) portal www.gesy.org.cy .