There is a huge epidemiological burden and unfortunately some people will end up in hospitals, in the Intensive Care Units, while others will die, said today the Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Committee on Coronavirus, Konstantinos Tsiotis, who noted that based on the large number of people , who have been diagnosed in recent weeks in Cyprus, some will certainly make a serious illness, while we expect that both hospitalizations and admissions to the ICU will continue.
"We have not yet seen the circle close"
Speaking in the context of the press conference given today for the presentation of the National Report on the course of the disease COVID-19 by November 8, 2020, Mr. Tsioutis said that "we have not yet seen the cycle close", expressing the hope that this cycle will begin to close soon, with the new measures that have been announced.
The press conference was also attended by the Advisor to the Minister of Health for coronavirus issues and member of the TEU Ms. Zoi-Dorothea Pana, the Chairman of the Technical Committee for the categorization of countries and member of the TEU, George Nikolopoulos, as well as the Press Officer of the Office of the Minister of Health, Margarita Kyriakou.
Asked to comment on the reduction that seems to be observed in Europe in relation to the number of deaths, Mr. Nikolopoulos explained that, "what is observed internationally is the reduction of the percentage of people in need of hospitalization", however, he noted that this "we see and in Cyprus ”.
"I would dare to make an assessment that there may be better outpatient case management here, the system of Personal Doctors in Cyprus can help, who evaluate and monitor patients and people do not have to go to the hospital for evaluation. ", he said.
He also said that "we may have a lower exposure of people to a lower viral load, due to the measures and the use of a mask and this makes the disease and symptoms milder and does not require hospitalization."
At present, few admissions to the ICU
Regarding the ICUs, Mr. Nikolopoulos said that at the moment "we see fewer admissions, but things can change", however, estimating that the medical staff now has more knowledge, compared to the previous pandemic wave and better management ".
At the same time, he added that "if we look at the European continent, we will find that in Cyprus, so far, we are in a better situation", to note that "things in other countries are dramatic and we see deaths increase greatly, so "This is what we call on everyone to try to protect our people."
"Some will make a serious illness"
In his own intervention, Professor Konstantinos Tsioutis stated that “at the moment there is a large number of people who have been diagnosed in recent weeks in Cyprus and certainly some will make a serious illness, while we expect that the hospitalizations will continue and the admissions to the ICU will continue ”.
"It simply came to our notice then. We hope it starts closing soon with the new measures announced. "We have a huge epidemiological burden and, unfortunately, some people will end up in hospitals and ICUs and even die," he said.
We continue to support open schools and that has not changed, said Z. D. Pana
For her part, Professor Zoe Dorothea Pana, answering a question about whether the data has changed and that is why it was decided to distance education in the Lyceums and Technical Schools of Limassol, stressed that has changed".
"So the decision-making," he said, "was based on the knowledge that older children may transmit like adults, but younger ones do not."
He went on to say that "the second, it has to do with practical issues, because a 16-year-old child can be left alone at home and we will not put our grandparents in danger and of course older children can manage better and the part of distance education in relation to younger children ”.
He added that "a very important point is that we have to take into account many parameters, namely the behavior of children, maybe teenagers and older children can not behave properly", to note that in the first wave we had put some priorities if you remember and maybe now is a phase where we have to do a re-evaluation ".
"We are really trying to do the best we can," he said.
"The people who staff the Team will never be enough until our contacts are reduced", said M. Kyriakou
Asked about the staffing of the Tracking Team, the Press Officer of the Office of the Minister of Health clarified that although the team currently employs more than 50 people along with the assistance of Officers from other services of the Ministry of Health, the request is not to staffed with more people.
"The people who staff the team will never be enough until our contacts are reduced. "As long as each of us, who is found to be positive for the virus, has 50-60 close contacts and we see 150 to 200 cases every day, then the Tracing Team, even with 150 people staffed, will have a very difficult task to handle."
He noted that the measures taken are aimed at reducing contacts, adding that the measures are not "neither to hurt the people, nor to punish people, but to reduce our contacts as much as possible."
Besides, during the press conference, the National Report was presented with the data for the period up to November 8.
The recovery rate dropped, the symptomatic rate went up
As Mr. Nikolopoulos said “the overall picture does not change dramatically, since 79% of the cases are domestic broadcasts, the recovery rate has dropped and the percentage of symptomatic persons has risen, while the deaths that have been recorded are 33 in total and this corresponds to in a mortality per 100 thousand, which reaches 3,8% ".
"What we have found," he explained, "is that imports reach the specific epidemiological index at 3,6 and looking at the epidemic curve, we can easily see that the wave we are currently going through is very large, since we observe that yes there is no big "An increase in hospitalizations, but we are moving in high numbers, without deleting a recession of the phenomenon", he said.
Regarding the cumulative impact of the pandemic, ie the proportion of cases per 100,000 population, he said that it "reaches 240 / 100,000 and is well above the international limits, showing an increase in the last period."
Regarding the data of the last 14 days, he stated that “the diagnoses (cases) are over 2.000 and the vast majority, 85%, are domestic broadcasts and the mortality is at 0,8%, a percentage that is much higher from the safe limits ”.
He added that "the distribution in terms of age shows a median value at 35 years, while it has increased slightly compared to the previous period (33 years)".
In relation to the course of the epidemic per Province, Dr. Nikolopoulos said that "the difference between Limassol and the other Provinces is clear", to add that "it has exceeded 500 / 100,000 and still shows an increasing trend".
Paphos on a declining course, but above the limits
"The other Provinces all show a small burden. "Paphos is above the limits, but there is a declining trend and we can keep that in the positive and maybe it is an incentive to keep the measures in force", he said.
In addition, he said that the percentage of people over the age of 60 who are ill is at 15% and an increase was observed, to add that "this is reflected in the cumulative effect and has an increasing course and this implies hospitalization, possibly heavy hospitalization space".
"We are still seeing for the hospitalizations, something that has not reached the top. In the ICU, things are still under control in relation to the first pandemic wave but we do not want to reach the worst ", noted Mr. Nikolopoulos.
He also said that "the reproduction rate is at low levels and is a little above 1", to add that "next week we will have results from other methods".
"In Limassol, the index seems a bit higher and that is a given," he said.
Commenting on the downward trend of the Paphos province in the period under consideration and answering a relevant question, Mr. Nikolopoulos said that "the burden in Paphos exists", adding that "the cumulative effect takes into account various things".
"Let us not just look at the numbers. It is encouraging that a decline is beginning, which can be attributed to both the interventions we have made and the measures we have taken. But we must take into account all the parameters and we certainly understand that it is one thing to have 100 cases in Nicosia or Limassol and another to have 100 cases in the population of Paphos. It is very different. The viral load is great in the Province ", he concluded.
Source: KYPE