The barometer for decision-making is the results of today and the next few days, said the Minister of Health Michalis Hadjipandella and stressed that if it appears that the cases and the positive rate are high, as well as the hospitalizations, then a meeting will be held with an advisory scientific committee to consider further action should be taken.
"Most likely, if there are any thoughts regarding the measures, they will be towards their tightening rather than towards their relaxation," he noted.
The Minister of Health made statements after his visit to the General Hospital of Famagusta, which operates as a Reference Hospital, to wish and express in practice his support to the health professionals, who "daily give their own battle for the best service of the patients'.
Initially, the Minister of Health wished the whole world Happy Birthday and expressed the wish that 2022 be an even better year. "It depends on us about the coronation if it will be a better year", he said and noted that this "is due to the fact if we decide to be vaccinated, if we decide to observe the measures of the Ministry of Health".
Today's visit to the Famagusta Hospital took place, as he said, for two reasons. "The main reason was to be next to the doctors, to the front line nurses, to wish them well, to spend some time with them, and to thank them for all their efforts lately," said Hadjipandella.
As the results show, he said, "our doctors, our nurses, have the best results in all of Europe and we must not forget that."
The second reason for his visit was, he noted, "to see with my own eyes if there is pressure regarding the hospitalization of young patients in the hospital." Fortunately, said the Minister of Health, at the moment there is not much pressure on the Famagusta Hospital. In the afternoon, he will visit the General Hospital of Nicosia to see what is happening there with the coronation treatments.
Asked about the increase in the positivity rate yesterday despite the small number of samples examined, the Minister of Health stated that "yesterday the positivity rate increased, but we must not forget that a large percentage of yesterday's cases were from our airports for this and the increase of the percentage ". As he noted, "we will see the results of the cases in the next 2-3 days and then we will decide".
Asked to comment that this week is crucial due to the fact that there will be festive meetings of citizens, and when asked if the Ministry of Health will take more stringent measures, Mr. Hadjipandella said that a new meeting with an epidemiological team and an advisory committee for review of measures, is something that will depend on today's and tomorrow's results. He stressed that if it appears that the cases and the rate of positivity are high, as well as the hospitalizations - yesterday we saw that we had a significant reduction in hospitalizations - if these two are increased, then we will meet, he said, with the advisory scientific committee to see if we need to take additional action.
Situation in hospitals
Regarding the situation in the hospitals, the Minister of Health stated that there is a plan to avoid any problems. "I want to tell you that last Wednesday afternoon there was a meeting with OKYPY and the private hospitals regarding the transfer of patients from the state hospitals to the private hospitals and that a very large number of the state hospitals have already been transferred to the private ones. At the moment, there are several beds that, if necessary, we will use for the coronary ", he added.
Mr. Hadjipandela thanked on the occasion, OKYPY and the private hospitals for the cooperation they have shown in the last days, in order to transfer a very large number of patients from the state hospitals to the private ones.
Omicron is under daily monitoring
Regarding the cases of Omicron yesterday, the Minister of Health stated that so far he has not been informed about the existence of a patient with Omicron but since last week instructions had been given to the officials of the Ministry such as checks of those treated in state hospitals with coronavirus to see if there are patients with the Omicron mutation.
"If there is no hospitalization with Omicron, then it is good news," he said, adding that "this is an issue that we monitor daily and await the results of coronavirus patients in public hospitals next week."
Regarding the cases of the Omicron mutation, the Minister of Health stated that most of them have a travel history, they have a travel history from Great Britain and Greece. Apparently, said Mr. Hadjipandela, from the first moment that the specific measure for PCR control was taken by the Ministry of Health, for all passengers, it was very important because these cases are detected in time. "Every day, 50 cases are detected at Cypriot airports," he said, "so it seems how important this decision we have made is." He also pointed out that for most cases there is a detailed situation in the Ministry of Health for all ages, with most cases being young people and seem to be from a travel history they had in the previous days.
The Minister of Health also thanked Dr. Amalia Hatzigianni and the nurses at this hospital, because "this hospital makes us proud not only in Cyprus all over Europe and all over the world" and assured them that the Ministry of Health will be next to them whatever is needed.
There is no question of easing the measures
Regarding the protests from restaurants about the fact that they have received a huge blow from the measures and whether the Ministry of Health is considering relaxing the measures concerning the restaurants, Mr. Hadjipandella stated that the primary goal is the safety of the people. "I do not think that at the moment there is any question of easing the measures. "Most likely, if there are any thoughts, it will be towards the tightening of the measures rather than towards their relaxation".
Vaccination centers
Regarding the planning in the vaccination centers and the walk-ins for this week, which is a festive period, the Minister of Health stated that tomorrow, on December 27 and 28, the Ministry of Health has planned to vaccinate students. "It is one thing that we consider very right, to vaccinate our students especially before they go to foreign countries for that and we provided," he said. There will be walk-ins only for students, he noted.
Regarding the availability of specific vaccines, Mr. Hadjipandella said that tomorrow there will be more than 30 thousand doses of Pfizer and everyone will be able to make an appointment through the Vaccination Portal. "And I tell people, those who want to be vaccinated with Pfizer, go to the vaccination portal and make an appointment and at the same time the walk in will work normally after two days," he said.
At the same time, as he mentioned, we have planned for the 3-4th of January when all the children will be home, to have the opportunity to go with their parents to vaccination centers that will be only for vaccination of children, in order to serve them and them so that there is no problem. Parents will be given the opportunity to go with their children to vaccinate them now that the children are home, said the Minister of Health.
Thirty patients at the Famagusta General Hospital
The Scientific Director of Larnaca Famagusta Hospitals, Amalia Hatzigianni, stated that today 30 patients with coronavirus are being treated at the Reference Hospital, of which 6 in the Intensive Care Unit, while three more admissions from Nicosia are expected.
There are two intubated patients in the Intensive Care Unit and 80% of the patients remain without a history of vaccination. The youngest patient is 25 years old while the oldest is 90 years old, he said.
In her statements, Dr. Hatzigianni thanked the Minister of Health, "who makes us once again the honor to be with us and to inspire the staff". Apart from his presence here today, he said, his presence is felt every day because 2-3 times a day at least he communicates with her to help the hospital function smoothly.
Ms. Finally, Hatzigianni thanked all her colleagues, medical, nursing, paramedical staff, who offer their services with great zeal, and with his expertise proved that he gives the maximum services he can provide.