‘CROSSINGS TO SOUTH COULD CLOSE AGAIN’
MINISTER: ACTION MAY BE TAKEN AFTER SHARP RISE IN NUMBER OF COVID-19 CASES FROM 70 TO 473 PER DAY IN SOUTH CYPRUS
THE border crossing points could be closed again just weeks after they were reopened due to rising Covid19 cases in South Cyprus and concern over “uncontrolled” arrivals there, Health Minister Ünal Üstel has warned.
Speaking during a TV interview on Thursday, Mr Üstel said: “The number of [new] cases [in South Cyprus] had fallen to 70 per day, now it is 430 [on Wednesday].
“If the cases exceed 500 to 600, South Cyprus will be in the red category. In this situation, there will be a problem. So the closure of the checkpoints could be put on the agenda.”
Mr Üstel added that new Covid19 cases had started to rise in the South because it had “opened its doors to other countries” in an “uncontrolled” manner and had started allowing people from abroad to enter “without testing” them.
Yesterday the South Cyprus Health Ministry reported that it had been placed into the “red” category of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) after 473 new cases of the disease were detected from 37,450 tests on Thursday. It warned that case levels are approaching the “dark red” category.
Figures from the TRNC’s Health Ministry showed that there were 61 new positive cases recorded on Thursday. The total number of Covid-19 vaccine doses administered in the TRNC is 194,782, including 85,859 people who have received two doses.
The border crossings were reopened on June 4 in a “synchronised” move between the two sides, after being closed to the general public for 15 months, much to the delight of shopkeepers and other businesses in the TRNC.
The current level of Covid measures at the border is “Level 2 (Orange)”, meaning that a seven-day negative PCR or antigen test is required to cross. However the checkpoints will be closed to the general public under “Level 3 (Red)”.
Meanwhile a senior doctor has warned that there could be “sharp increases” in the number of Covid cases in North Cyprus if the more transmissible “Delta” variant, first seen in India, takes hold.
“So that we don’t experience a new wave due to the Delta variant, as it is spreading around us and approaching us, we think that it is essential to focus on the use of mRNA and viral vector vaccines in our country, as they are reported to have better efficacy against the Delta variant,” Cyprus Turkish Medical Association head Dr Özlem Gürkut said in a statement.
“Given the ECDC’s risk assessment published on June 10, and the expected future dominance of the Delta variant, the risk is reported
to be increased for countries in all epidemiological situations.
“It is warned that sharp increases in new infections, hospitalisations and deaths could be observed without continued implementation of individual and community precautions and a more rapid expansion of full vaccination . . .
“The World Health Organization has also announced that the effects of Covid-19 vaccines against the Delta variant are lower and that even fully vaccinated people should continue to apply additional protection measures such as masks, social distancing and hygiene rules.”
A study by researchers at Near East University (NEU), released on Wednesday, said that the Delta variant was not found among a sample of 686 cases of Covid-19 in the TRNC between February and June. The “Alpha (UK) variant remains dominant” it added.