Cyprus firmly "sunk" in the red - The ECDC map (PICTURE)

Cyprus remains in the red zone of high-risk countries, according to the updated map of the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), which was posted on the service's website on Thursday.

Greece, Spain, Portugal, Bulgaria, Belgium, the Netherlands, Iceland, Estonia, Lithuania, Croatia, Slovenia and Ireland are still in the "red", part of which is still in "Deep red". Areas of Greece and France are still in "deep red" although less than last week.

The picture remains mixed in Italy, Germany and the Scandinavian countries, while Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary are in the green zone.

The red zone is defined as the countries 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.