The measures will continue to exist until there is the necessary vaccination coverage of the population and for this we must be patient, said today the Minister of Health Mr. Konstantinos Ioannou, speaking at the press conference for announcement of the decisions of the Council of Ministers on emergency measures to stop the transmission of the virus.
The Head of the Advisory Scientific Committee, Professor Konstantinos Tsioutis, stressed, for his part, that "the last measures had a horizon of a few weeks, but any relaxation or tightening would be done depending on the epidemiological situation. At the moment, while there seemed to be a relative improvement, we saw a sharp deterioration. " Unfortunately, he added, "the way the virus is transmitted and how quickly it can derail the situation we have seen from what is happening in other countries." For this reason, he stressed, "and in view of the holiday season and in relation to the burdensome indicators we have now, we consider that these measures announced today, are clearly aimed at stopping this transmission and we must keep in mind a new wave, important, which is expected in January after the holidays where we will inevitably have several gatherings ".
The measures "announced today move in the package of measures that had been implemented in the Provinces of Limassol and Paphos where we saw results. "I estimate that if they are properly observed in a few weeks we will start to see improvement", said Mr. Tsioutis.
Special reference to the percentage of "positivity", both of the molecular tests and of the rapid antigen detection tests, was made by Professor George Nikolopoulos presenting the new epidemiological data, saying that "the ratio of the number of positive results in relation to the number of molecular tests, as well as tests for rapid antigen detection is at high levels."
"What worries us the most is the increase in test positivity. In the molecular laboratory tests, it increased from 3,5% to 5,5% and we saw this picture in the tests performed in private laboratories as well. "We had seen a drop for a few days, but suddenly the percentage skyrocketed and we see the same in the antigenic tests where from 1,8% we went to 3,1%", he said characteristically.
Regarding the analysis of the data until December 4, Mr. Nikolopoulos stated that "the ratio remains stable in terms of domestic transmissions, ie 8 out of ten cases are domestic infections." In addition, "we have recorded new peaks in terms of daily number of broadcasts, we have exceeded 300 cases in some days and the" mobile average "is close to 250 cases."
Regarding the epidemiological picture presented by the various Provinces, Mr. Nikolopoulos explained that "Paphos is still moving at good levels, Limassol continued to show a decrease, but at a very slow pace, Famagusta shows some stabilization, but at high levels and we have Nicosia and Larnaca that continue the upward course ".
Regarding the transmissibility index, Mr. Nikolopoulos stated that "on a pan-Cypriot scale it is above 1: 1, around 1: 1,05, but there is a difference between the provinces. In Nicosia, for example, it is over 1: 1,2 and in Larnaca it is over 1: 1,5. "Across Cyprus, there is an upsurge at the community level and this is proven by all the indicators we have at our disposal."
Regarding the situation in the hospitals, he stated that "we have an average of 120 patients per twenty-four hours. In the ICU the situation is a bit better but we have a respectable number which remains constant around 12 people and we also have deaths. In other words, it is an image that "tells" that if we do not intervene, things will become more difficult ".
Then, answering a question whether the measures announced today should be announced earlier, the Minister of Health stressed that "the epidemiological data at the moment do not give us other options." "Certainly some of the measures that were implemented did not yield the expected results and this is due to the fatigue of the people," said the Minister, adding that "a week ago we had taken the specific measures, which are still in force, with a horizon a few weeks. However, seeing some deterioration, we decided on the additional measures and what worried us the most was the "positivity" of the tests. "Unfortunately, the positivity, especially in rapid antigen detection tests, has almost doubled and this was a key element in deciding on further measures."
Answering a question on whether the possibility of some relaxations during the holidays should be ruled out, Mr. Ioannou said that "if the epidemiological picture allows us, we will give some relaxations at Christmas".
Regarding the decision to suspend the operation of the restaurants, the Minister of Health said that "the Police are conducting checks, but we all see on social networking sites mainly that the measures were not applied in several such places. They turned into bars from an hour onwards and we have to realize that it takes a collective effort to do that. We have a few months left and we have to work together. "
Regarding the increased cases in nursing homes, Mr. Ioannou reminded that "a lot of measures have been taken lately. We have done three auditing programs and for the past three weeks, we have started a new weekly auditing program. At the same time, inspections are carried out by the Social Welfare Services and a team has been set up under Professor Zoi-Dorothea Pana, which supervises and trains the staff. We have also banned visits. Unfortunately, we also saw the deaths increase and these deaths were a result of the cases of the last ones that were identified in the last two weeks. "No matter what measures we take, there is always the possibility that the virus will enter such structures, so workers in these areas must be doubly careful and follow our protocol and instructions."
In addition, said the Minister, "and to solve a problem that exists, we proceeded to all the procedures and concluded a contract with a specific nursing home, which will host all the elderly who need care, but not hospitalization and for for some reason they are not accepted by the Roofs from which they come ".
Apart from the catering facilities and the closed structures, the Minister of Health continued, "there are too many transmissions in the workplace and today we had a teleconference again with the employers' organizations and I asked them to make new recommendations to their members. "Unfortunately, the measures are not observed in the workplaces and a large percentage of incidents come from these spaces."
Regarding the coronavirus vaccines, Mr. Ioannou stated that "next week a press conference will be given, during which details will be given about both the vaccine and the planning we have done in relation to the vaccinations and the program that we will follow ". "If all goes well," he added, "at the beginning of January we will have the first doses, but let me stress that in order for there to be immunity, there must be three weeks, so those who will be vaccinated first will have developed immunity in early February."
Based on the existing plan, he continued, "we expect that by the beginning of March we will have vaccines to cover around 150,000 citizens. This means that a significant part of the population will be covered and because we will categorize and prioritize our elderly and people belonging to vulnerable groups, we hope to be able to protect them as soon as possible. "
The measures, stressed the Minister of Health, "will continue to exist until there is the necessary vaccination coverage, which according to experts should reach up to 70% of the population. We must be patient. We are at the end, but unfortunately there is complacency for that and some measures do not work. It is necessary to observe the measures because we have no other choice ".