With the first cases of the Indian as well as the South African variant of Covid-19 detected in Cyprus the Health Ministry has gone on alert, Philenews reported on Thursday.
The Indian variant was detected on Wednesday in four of the samples taken from people found positive to coronavirus. Two cases of the South African have also been detected.
That’s why Health Minister Constantinos Ioannou has urged people to respond positively to the calls for vaccination to ensure that the risk of the virus spreading to the community is reduced.
He also said the alarming samples concern cases detected mainly in April – from three people who arrived from India, one from Pakistan, one from the Philippines and one from Nepal.
Health expert Maria Koliou also sent the message that the spread of the Indian variant is extremely fast and leads to serious illness.
“What seems to be helpful, according to studies, is an increased vaccination coverage from 70% to 85% of the population,” the epidemiologist also said.
“As new variants are more aggressive and cause increased transmissibility, the only way to stop it is high vaccination coverage of the population,” she added.
