Cyprus will not see any further relaxation of COVID-19 lockdown restrictions, as the country’s health system is buckling under pressure from the recent upsurge of new cases.
In comments to state radio CyBC, Health Minister Constantinos Ioannou said the government has decided to keep measures in place at least until 15 May, with the decision to be ratified on Wednesday by the cabinet.
Ioannou ruled out tightening measures as “no one wants the repeated disruption of the economy”.
Hopes the government would relax measures ahead of the Greek Orthodox Easter on 2 May, as originally planned, were diffused as Cyprus went close to breaking a new daily record on Sunday with 852 COVID-19 cases.
The record high was reported on 29 December, when 907 cases were confirmed, with authorities attributing the high number of cases to labs not performing tests over the Christmas holidays.
Hospital admissions have also hit an all-time high, as 271 patients are in COVID-19 hospital wards, 67 of them in a critical state.
On Sunday, Ioannou had participated in an emergency meeting at the Presidential Palace under President Nicos Anastasiades and the ministers of finance and labour following the spike.
Ioannou said there had been very low public compliance with COVID protocols while the tracing process shows that contacts of confirmed coronavirus cases do not self-isolate.
He urged the public to be patient as Cyprus’ vaccination rollout gathers pace.
The government’s target is to vaccinate 70% of the population by the end of June.
Meanwhile, epidemiologists are not optimistic over the course of the virus in the coming weeks; they fear a tightening of measures if the situation is not brought under control.
Member of the government’s advisory team, Dr Peter Karayiannis, told the Stockwatch website he fears the further deterioration of the situation.
Commenting on daily cases reported in recent days, Karayiannis said: “If these numbers continue, the government should tighten measures and not relax them.”
The virologist did not rule out the possibility of imposing a third lockdown if the spread of the pandemic is not stopped.
Pulmonologist Dr Charis Armeftis said the government started easing the second lockdown prematurely, without first building a wall of protection through vaccinations.
He said just 7% of the population had been fully vaccinated, while only 20% has received one vaccine dose.
“With these data at hand, the country should be in a lockdown,” noting it takes up to six weeks for someone to develop immunity.
“Right now, we have reached the peak of the problem. We are now close to facing bed shortages, and we don’t know what will happen if hospitalisations increase further,” said Armeftis.
Cyprus Sunday reported 852 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total to 56,259 and deaths to 291.
