Coronavirus: Cyprus should be free of virus by mid-July, says virologist

 

Cyprus should be rid of coronavirus by mid-July provided people respect the preventive measures imposed by the government in recent days, according to Petros Karayiannis, a virologist and a microbiology professor at the University of Nicoisa.

“By then, we should have no more Covid-19 cases in the country, but we will still have to be careful about allowing people from abroad into Cyprus.”

Karayiannis pointed to the situation in China, where there are fewer cases reported each day that passes but where the biggest threat at the moment is the return of the contagion from other countries.

“We need to avoid that,” he said.

“Right now, the situation is very difficult to determine, it all depends on how the outbreak in Cyprus will evolve. By mid-May we should see a decline in cases and, by mid-July we should hopefully be virus-free.”

He also said Cyprus should monitor the situation in the UK very carefully.

“They are adopting a very different strategy from the rest of the world and we need to be careful about readmitting people who come from there once the situation calms down, because it might lead to another spike in cases.”

Karayiannis explained very little is still known about the virus in the medical community, as it is different from other viruses of the past, like SARS, MERS or the bird flu.
“I hope that with rising temperatures, at least in hot countries, the transmission of the virus will decline soon and will result in the outbreak slowing down. But in colder countries in northern Europe the outbreak might continue until well in the summer,” he added.
“On the other hand, it may disappear altogether everywhere at once, like SARS did in 2004, once the summer season began.”
Karayiannis also weighed in on the current situation in Cyprus and on how the outbreak might unfold in the next few days.
“We will almost inevitably experience an increase in the number of cases. This will depend on how quickly we detect other cases before they have the opportunity to spread to others,” he said.
“So far the situation is encouraging and seemingly under control. The measures we have adopted, which have been proved by scientists to be affective will at least limit further massive outbreaks in the island.”
The virologist urged people not to panic and to follow the guidelines set by the health ministry.

“We all need to stay alert, the more we adhere by the rules, the quicker we will be able to go back to our everyday lives.”

 

Source: Coronavirus: Cyprus should be free of virus by mid-July, says virologist