COVID19: Reference hospital 96% full

Capacity at Famagusta General COVID-19 referral hospital is almost full at 96% following a recent spike in cases, while 81% of patients are unvaccinated.

Amalia Hadjiyianni, scientific director of the hospital, told the Cyprus News Agency: ‘’Today 67 patients are being treated at Famagusta General Hospital, of whom 13 are in the Intensive Care Unit.’’

The median age of patients is 63 years, while the youngest is 31 and the eldest is 93. Both of them are unvaccinated, she added.

Hadjiyianni said that the number of admissions was double those discharged in recent days; on Wednesday, it levelled out.

At Larnaca General Hospital, 35 COVID patients are being treated, of whom five are in ICU.

Some 127 people who tested positive for the virus stayed at the Eden rehabilitation centre in Tersefanou before their release in ten days.

The health official said that an additional 25 people are being treated in the post-Covid ward.

She added that there were over 20 cases detected among the Reference Hospital staff due to the Omicron variant.

Despite the steep rise in the number of patients, she explained that things are under control thanks to the staff’s efficiency.

An unprecedented surge of COVID-19 cases, powered by Omicron, has seen daily cases exceed 5,000 four times during the past week, edging lower to the 3,000-4,000 range.

Hospitalisations rose again Wednesday to 266 from 252, as serious cases were up by 17, to 93.

Intubated patients rose by four to 28, while 76% of all hospital COVID patients were reported as unvaccinated.

Also, 14 young patients remain admitted in the Covid ward at Nicosia’s Makarios children’s hospital, two more from the day before.

Sixteen patients are still considered post-Covid, having recovered from the virus, but remain intubated and in a serious state.

The total number of SARS-CoV-2 infections since March 2020 is 215,271 and 669 deaths.