COVID19: Cyprus case fatality rate remains low

Cyprus’ case fatality rate due to COVID-19 is 0.46%, while the healthcare cost for the pandemic hit €100 mln, said Christis Loizides, Executive Head of State Health Services Organization (SHSO).

Loizides said that since the outbreak in March 2020, more than 6,000 patients had been hospitalised, of whom 600 were in ICUs.

He said the SHSO had to quickly reshape its infrastructure to install more than 300 beds in COVID wards, including ACUs and staff 65 new ICUs.

Loizides said that in just 28 days, a new ICU at Nicosia General Hospital was set up, and the ICU at the COVID reference hospital Famagusta General was extended.

Since January 2019, SHSO hired 1,022 people, 245 doctors and 371 nurses. The rest are administrative staff and paramedical personnel.

There are currently 767 doctors employed by SHSO and 3,555 nurses, the largest number of nurses ever. This amounts to 72% of all nurses on the island.

There are plans to modernise public hospitals further and establish new units, such as the haemodialysis unit at Paphos General, the new Athalassa Hospital, the MRI unit at Limassol General, and the new thalassemia unit at Makarios Hospital.

New projects over the next three years will cost €200 mln.

He said public hospitals need better service to patients, such as digitalising patient files and making online appointments.

Loizides said that the hospitals could not close at three in the afternoon “this is an outdated practice that needs changing”.

The total number of SARS-CoV-2 infections since March 2020 is 122,709 and 564 deaths.