Number of coronavirus cases has not yet peaked

Cyprus may see an unexpected large number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the next few days Dr Petros Karayiannis of the medical school of the University of Nicosia told the Cyprus News Agency on Thursday.

He estimates that the number of cases have still not peaked and stressed the need for action in the two areas with the biggest problem — Paphos and Aradippou.

His statements came as the Health Ministry announced it was stepping up testing in the two municipalities.

Karayiannis expressed the hope that the peak will come before May but said it was difficult to make definitive assessments because of the two ‘fronts’ at Paphos and Aradippou as no one knew to what extent the virus has been transmitted in the two communities.

Today’s results may give some indication as they will include tracing from the two communities.

“At the moment we are seeing the results of lack of discipline of the population. Those who have been infected may have been infected before the stricter measures were implemented,” he said.

“We are therefore seeing this increase in cases which is due to disobedience, failure to implement instructions to self-isolate,” he added.

Because of the measures, the virus is not expected to spread however there are some fronts in specific areas which must be addressed.

Karayiannis said he anticipates that the number of confirmed cases will be in double digits in the next few days but expressed the hope that they will not rise to yesterday’s record number of 58.

Next week, experts will have a better picture of the situation. “If they have stabilised then good, but they must stabilise for a period of time before we can say that we are improving.”

For the time being, numbers are manageable, provided that medical professionals do not continue to test positive which deprives hospitals of front line health workers.

Should the curve move down, this will mean the virus is no longer being transmitted. But they must go to zero for a period of time before we can say we are clear of the virus, he added.