Coronavirus cases in Cyprus drop 33% following lockdown

NICOSIA – A lockdown on Cyprus closing most businesses and requiring people to stay apart from each other while out on permissible missions has seen the number of COVID-19 cases fall 33 percent on the island.

Only nine deaths have been recorded, making Cyprus among the countries in the world with the fewest number of fatalities and cases, and with quarantine facilities set up to isolate those for 14 days to check for symptoms in suspected cases.

There were 20 cases on April 6, down from 30 the day before, bringing the total number to 446, including 10 on British military bases, said The Financial Mirror, not including those on the northern third occupied by Turkish-Cypriots since a 1974 Turkish invasion.

Health officials said a 76-year-old man who had other health problems, which make the virus even deadlier, had passed away. The nine dead, seven men and two women had an average age of 66, with the elderly especially vulnerable.

The new cases were confirmed after 792 tests were conducted, the report said, with 18 cases traced among the contacts of people who have already contracted COVID-19. The medical record of the other two is under investigation.

Ministry of Health adviser Dr Leontios Kostrikis said of 21 people whose medical history was under investigation, 17 of them were found to be connected with a confirmed case while for the other four the investigation continues.

The number of cases was confirmed from 10,946 tests carried out by the Cyprus Neurology and Genetics Institute, the Microbiological Department of the Cyprus State Health Services Organisation hospitals and private labs, the report said.

Out of the 446 cases 317 people were infected through contacts in Cyprus while 37 who tested positive were hospitalized and had recovered.