2 deaths, 383 new cases, patient numbers up
Two people died and 383 new coronavirus cases were reported on Friday, slightly less than the infections on previous days, but the number of patients admitted for COVID-19 continues to rise, testing the bed capacity of the Cyprus health system.
The health ministry said in its daily bulletin that two men, aged 69 and 70, died of COVID-19, raising the death toll for the month to 238 to date.
December and January were the worst months on record, with 76 deaths each, while 30 people died in February.
Although the number of new SARS-CoV-2 cases dropped from 431 on Thursday to 383, the same level as the 384 eight days ago, the week-long rally of 400-plus cases also resulted in more patients being admitted to the four state hospitals on a daily basis.
The health ministry said that 195 patients have been admitted for treatment, ten more from the day before, and the critical cases remained unchanged at 36.
The worrying data follows the government’s decision earlier on Friday to allow the hospitality sector to reopen from Tuesday and 3extend the night curfew from 9pm to 11pm, while keeping lower high school gymnasiums shut until the end of the month.
Officials are also concerned by the growing number of infections being diagnosed in elementary schools, while the epicentre of the current virus seems to be Limassol.
243 cases in elementary schools
“From the first of March up until Thursday, 243 new infections were recorded among teachers and pupils of elementary schools, of which 145 were from schools in Limassol District,” said health ministry spokesperson Margarita Kyriakou.
“As regards deaths, five people died in the first ten days of March, four of whom in Limassol District,” she said.
“One of the deaths resulted from a serial infection in the workplace, while the other three were close contacts of known cases and were infected by first degree relatives or friends after a number of house visits.”
As with the same day last week, a near record 57,337 tests were conducted on Friday, using the PCR molecular method, as well as the less accurate antigen rapid tests.
Of these, 11,077 were the free statesponsored rapid tests at schools, compared to 10,147 last Friday with a total of 57,926 tests on the day.
Total infections to date reached 38,879. Some 111 of the new SARS-CoV-2 cases diagnosed on Friday were through contact tracing, one was a passenger who tested positive among 510 samples from arrivals at Larnaca and Paphos airports, and 69 were from other tests.
A further 202 new cases were diagnosed from rapid tests, of which 129 were in Limassol, 30 in Nicosia, 11 in Larnaca, 2 in Paphos and 2 in Famagusta district.
Friday’s tests also included seven positive results from 5,325 taken on site at business throughout the week and conducted by inhouse health and safety officers.
It’s been a year since the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared the novel Covid-19 a ‘pandemic’ and a year since the government of Cyprus enforced the first lockdown.
It was an unprecedented measure that was deemed necessary to hijack the spread of a deadly pandemic that many experts went as far as to compare it to the one that swept across the world a century ago.
Since China reported its first cases in the city of Wuhan, 118 million cases have been reported by 219 authorities around the world and 2.6 million deaths.
Although the statistics may compare favourably with those of an ordinary flu, it is certain that if measures had not been taken, the toll would have been enormous.
Even in advanced economies like Italy, the health authorities had to decide who lives and who dies because they couldn’t handle the tsunami of cases brought by the first wave that swept their intensive care units.
Doctors would choose younger patients for the oxygen ventilation support in order to help them recover. Older patients were often left to die alone and away from their loved ones in order to prevent the spread of the disease.
According to UNICEF, a ventilator is a complex device that requires well trained staff to operate and maintain. It provides mechanical ventilation and is only used for those critical COVID-19 patients in intensive care who are unable to breathe.
Oxygen therapy, on the other hand, involves a free-flow of oxygen through the nostrils to support hospitalised patients recover from COVID-19.
It is normally provided via an oxygen cylinder or an oxygen concentrator in combination with nasal prongs and can be used at the primary care or first referral level of the health system.
The global response to the pandemic has been swift and five major vaccines have been developed to tackle the virus.
In Cyprus, the vaccination commenced from the beginning of the year and the strategy is to vaccinate the most vulnerable group of people, which is the oldest, as well as the medical professionals.
Israel has championed this cause with more than half of its 9.3 million people vaccinated.
Cyprus struck a deal with Israel to allow its vaccinated citizens to visit Cyprus, while by May, the island will open its borders to vaccinated Britons as well.
Tourism has been hit hard everywhere and countries whose economies rely heavily on tourism can’t wait to open up their borders for business. But there can be no trade off, in other words a country cannot afford to accept more contagion risk in order to attract more tourists, because this strategy will certainly backfire.
The stakes are high and every responsible government is looking at reducing the Covid-19 cases, as well as hospitalisations, but that requires the enforcement of strict measures at a huge cost to the private sector, but also human rights, as many freedoms have either been restricted or suspended altogether.
The European Commission is stepping up efforts to increase the production and distribution of vaccines to member states in order to ease the pressures on the national economies arising from widespread travel bans and other national restrictions that brought much economic activity to a hold.
Cyprus is doing quite well and the current rate of reported cases is just above 1%. However, next week restaurants are about to open and experts worry that the number of cases may jump again as many people are likely to lower their guard.
But keeping people at home for too long has other side effects and restaurants can’t keep up with running expenses, despite the meagre government support.
Eventually, they will have to open with some restrictions in the hope that the vaccination will gradually restrict the pool of potential victims, until some 70% of the total population gets vaccinated.
But so far, just 10% has gone through the process and some people are expressing concerns, unfounded according to our research, regarding certain vaccines.
What these people don’t realise is that they are addressing more unfounded risks than proven ones and that is the risk of contracting the virus than any potential side effects.
The situation is perhaps best summarised in Churchill’s words: “now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.”