Member of the Scientific Committee on the pandemic, Professor of Microbiology/Molecular Virology at the University of Nicosia Medical School, Dr. Petros Karayiannis, told CNA that despite the fact that the number of new coronavirus cases was stable two weeks ago, in the last few days their number has been gradually increasing.
Karayiannis expressed concern, saying that sooner or later the number of hospitalisations and admissions to Intensive Care Units will increase, given the raising numbers of new coronavirus cases.
He said that the number of patients hospitalised and those who are being treated in the Intensive Care Units is the highest we have seen so far, adding that this is the result of the cases diagnosed ten days ago.
“Therefore, since the cases are above 500 (daily), this will mean that in 7 to 10 days, we will have an increased number of hospitalisations, and we may exceed 300 hospitalisations. The Intensive Care Units will reach their limits”, he warned.
Replying to questions, he said that it seems that some people seem to ignore that they need to take the necessary health protective measures and the fact that there is a mutated strain circulating in Cyprus, which is more contagious.
“If we are not careful, sooner or later it will get worse, so instead of talking about relaxation of measures, we will probably be forced at some stage, if things do not improve, to talk about the introduction of measures,” he said.
Asked if there will be any relaxations of measures ahead of Easter, he said that the epidemiological picture is not stable and thus there is nothing certain at the moment.
“I think decisions will have to be made next week. So we still have a few days, but to be honest I do not see the situation improving significantly” he pointed out.
