It seems that there are still people infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus in the community, member of the Scientific Advisory Team and Professor of microbiology and molecular virology of the University of Nicosia’s Medical School, Petros Karayiannis, told CNA.
He was invited to comment on the latest case detected in Paphos, and which concerns a hotel employee. According to Karayiannis, sporadic COVID-19 cases will continue to emerge, but noted that the latest confirmed case is not causing alarm and was rather expected.
What needs to be done is to trace the confirmed case’s contacts and detect the source of the infection, Professor Karayiannis continued. Further investigation is needed, due to the fact that the case was not traced among the contacts of other already confirmed cases, he went on.
We need to find out if this is a new or an older case, the Professor said.
Asked if there is still community transmission, Karayiannis said that the latest case seems to confirm that, but further research is needed. If there is community transmission, we will see sporadic cases emerging, he went on.
Asked about the opening of crossing points, the member of the Scientific Advisory Team said that he is not worried if both sides implement the provisions for a PCR test in order to let people cross and do random checks. In this way, we make sure that we remain safe, to the extent possible, Karayiannis said.
The same holds true for passengers flying to Cyprus from countries listed in “Category A” as far as their epidemiological situation is concerned, he added and said that they will monitor the situation closely.
(CNA)
