Cyprus is finally out of the EU’s dark red danger zone, moving into the orange category after successfully reducing its COVID 14-day cumulative diagnosis rate under the 150 cases per 100,000 benchmark.
According to the Health Ministry’s latest epidemiological report, the island’s cumulative diagnosis rate fell to 130 from 218.6 per 100,000 population in the previous 14 days.
Only Famagusta and Limassol are above the 150 per 100,000 dark red mark by district, but all areas have registered a significant drop in cases.
In Famagusta, the rate dropped to 222.9 from 327.2 per 100,000; in Larnaca, it was 99.3 from 200 per 100,000; Limassol was 177.2 from 242; Nicosia was 103.9 from 199.5.
Paphos had the best rate, dropping to 54.5 from 119.5 per 100,000 compared to last week’s report.
Cyprus’ overall positivity rate remained at 0.1%, with Paphos again taking the lead with zero; Larnaca and Famagusta’s rates dropped from 0.2% to 0.1%.
Limassol and Nicosia’s rates remained unchanged at 0.2% and 0.1%, respectively.
Despite the impressive improvement, Cyprus is a long way from entering the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) green category.
To do that, it would need to reduce its 14-day cumulative rate to under 25 cases per 100,000.
The Health Ministry said despite the lifting of measures and resumption of social activities; people must remain vigilant if cases are to drop.
A total of 1,154 positive coronavirus cases were recorded between 19 May -1 June, with the majority, 68.7%, found among people aged 20 to 59.
Only 108 people aged 60 and older tested positive in the last 14 days. The remaining 252 cases were under 19, while no data was available for one case.
The median age of the adult cases is 35.
The cases resulted from 84,130 PCR and 638,543 rapid tests carried out.
According to the report, on 2 June, 66 COVID-19 patients were treated at state hospitals, of which 19 are in an ICU. Some 16 people were on a ventilator.
Deaths attributed to COVID-19 indicate that 362 people have died from coronavirus, with the associated mortality being 40.7 per 100,000.
Deaths involving men were two-thirds of the total. The median age of all deaths was 77.5.
On Thursday, Cyprus reported another 53 new COVID-19 cases taking the total to 72,626.