Cyprus was again placed in the red category on the epidemiological map of the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) for the spread of the coronavirus, which was published on Thursday, after two weeks in the orange category.
Cyprus is in the red after the recent deterioration of epidemiological data and is again considered a country at increased risk of spreading COVID-19.
The picture is much better in Spain, France, Italy and Portugal, where several areas are in the green, or "safe" category, with the rest remaining in the orange category.
Orange is also found in most parts of Sweden, Poland and the Czech Republic, as well as Denmark. However, the situation is mixed in Norway, Poland and the Czech Republic, where some areas are in the red category.
In the red category, or with the most regions in this category, are Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Austria and Hungary.
In the deep red, one step below the red zones, are the Baltic countries, Romania, a significant part of Bulgaria, Slovenia, part of Croatia and northern Greece. In Greece, in the orange category are Crete and the Aegean islands as well as Epirus and Attica.
The orange zone is defined as the countries or regions where the total number of new cases in the previous 14 days is between less than 50 cases per 100 thousand inhabitants, and the percentage of positive tests exceeds 4%, or where the total number of new cases is between 50 and 75 cases per 100 thousand inhabitants and the percentage of positive tests exceeds 1% or where the total number of new cases is between 75 and 200 cases per 100 thousand inhabitants and the percentage of positive tests is less than 4%.
The red zone is defined as the countries or regions where the total number of new cases in the previous 14 days is between 75 and 200 per 100 thousand inhabitants, and the percentage of positive tests exceeds 4%, and if the number of new cases is below 500 cases per 100 thousand inhabitants (at which point the country goes into the "deep red" category).
The map and related data are published by the ECDC every Thursday, supporting the efforts made on the basis of a relevant EU Council proposal to coordinate pandemic restrictions due to the pandemic. The maps are based on the latest data in the database sent by Member States to the European Monitoring System (TESSy) until midnight on Tuesday.