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COVID-19 spread and hospitalisations up

09/04/2021 15:56

Cyprus has been experiencing an increase of COVID-19 cases in the last two weeks, with more hospital admissions mainly for people under the age of 60, the National Surveillance Report published on Friday shows. At the same time, according to the Ministry of Health ICUs have come under pressure but are not yet at a dangerous stage.

According to the Ministry of Health the National Surveillance Report data show a clear increase in the 14-day cumulative diagnosis rate across Cyprus which is over 600 per 100,000 population (621.1 per 100,000 population). In the previous corresponding period it was 548.5 per 100,000 population.

The cumulative diagnosis rate in the Nicosia and Larnaca districts is significantly up. In particular in Nicosia it is 524.2 per 100,000 population compared to 358 per 100,000 in the previous corresponding period and in Larnaca district it is 555.7 per 100,000 population compared the previous 404.7 per 100,000 population.
 
The cumulative diagnosis rate in Limassol district has continued to record a small drop with 899.7 per 100,000 population compared to 978.7 per 100,000 population in the previous period. However, it continues to be in high and unsafe levels, the Ministry says. In the meantime, sewage concentrations have shown for the first time a clear drop but continue to be at a high level.
 
It is further noted that the cumulative diagnosis rate for the last 14 days shows a stabilisation on people over 60 contracting the disease compared with other age groups.
 
In particular, between March 24 and April 6, 5,515 new COVID-19 cases were recorded with a median age of 34 years, 52.8% or 2,911 were women and 47.2% or 2,603 were men, while for one case the information was not available.
 
Hospitals, the Ministry says, have “recorded a new wave of admissions.”

According to the National Surveillance Report’s data, Limassol continues to be the district with more hospitalisations (47.6%) recording a new increase after having had a significant drop. Nicosia and Larnaca follow.

The age of people needing hospital treatment is largely under 60 and there is no upward trend for people over 75 while the average admissions of people between 70 and 74 seems to be dropping. The median age of people in hospital was 63, while the median age of patients treated in ICUs was 66.

ICUs have come under a small amount of pressure “however we are at a distance from the dangerous zone for ICUs” the Ministry says, assuring that “all hospital indices are monitored on a daily basis.”

According to the data, on April 8, 29 people were treated at ICUs, 23 of whom were intubated. Their median age was 66, while 20 or 69% were men. In total 20 (69%) patients treated at ICUs had underlying health problems.

The weekly positivity rate from rapid antigen tests carried out through a Ministry of Health screening programme records a significant increase of 0.2% - 0.4% in all districts and across Cyprus.

In particular, the positivity rate in Limassol is 1% from 0.8% in the previous week, in Larnaca 0.9% from 0.6%, in Nicosia 0.8% from 0.5%, in Pafos 0.7% from 0.4%, in Famagusta 0.7% from 0.3% and across Cyprus it is 0.9% from 0.6%.
 
At the same time, the positivity rate in homes for the elderly is slightly up from 0.2% to 0.3%.
 
According to the Ministry of Health “we are clearly experiencing a period of increased transmission with the R rate estimated to be at 1.16 (1.12 – 1.21).”
 
In the last 14 days 61,761 PCR tests were carried out (6,955 per 100,000 population) and 637,220 rapid antigen tests (71,769 per 100,000).
 
Limassol is the district with the greatest percentage of deaths due to COVID-19 (37%). Until April 6, Limassol has the greatest mortality rate per 100,000 population in (36.2 deaths per 100,000 population).

Until April 6, 47,632 COVID-19 cases have been diagnosed in Cyprus with 268 deaths attributed to the disease (Case Fatality Risk 0.6%). At the same time, 82.6% (39,061) of people who contracted the disease have recovered.

According to a report on the deaths recorded in Cyprus, most of them took place in December 2020 and January 2021 with the number of deaths during those two months reaching 52% of total deaths, 85 and 86 respectively.

In 2021, the percentage of deaths attributed to COVID-19 of people aged between 70 and 79 was up by 75% compared to 2020, while the percentage of deaths of people aged 80 and over fell by by 16%.