COVID19: Fifth wave slowing down

The fifth wave of the pandemic in Cyprus is receding after peaking at over 5,450 this month, two scientists advising the government believe.

Over the last week, Cyprus’ epidemiological data has been encouraging; virologist Petros Karayiannis told CyBC radio.

“Barring a new, unexpected spike, new infections may drop below 1,000 per day in 15 days and, if no new aggressive variant of coronavirus appears, this allows us to hope for much better conditions by the summer,” Karayiannis said.

Daily infections peaked at 5,457 on January 4, with the positivity rate reaching 6% in a population of around a million.

Data released by the Ministry of Health showed that new infections receded to 2,918 on Monday, with the positivity rate dropping to 2.07%.

“We are possibly heading to an endemic phase of the disease, as it would be difficult for the virus to be transmitted because of the high rate of fully vaccinated people and high immunity rate among the population,” said public health expert Michalis Voniatis said.

According to the Health Ministry, 83.7% of adults over 18 have completed their vaccination.

This ratio drops to 70.4% of the total population eligible for vaccination.

The target is to have 75% of the population between five and 17 years of age vaccinated.