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ECDC: Cyprus remains in the deep red category

21/01/2022 08:53

More and more areas in eastern Europe that had been holding out, remaining in the red category of the epidemiological map of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), have now passed into the deep red category according to the latest edition of the map.

The rapid spread of the virus in the past few weeks resulted in most countries in the European Union and the European Economic Area being classified in the category that denotes the largest notification rates currently being measured.

Cyprus, along with most countries of the EU/EEA, remain in the deep red category.

A week earlier, Poland, eastern Hungary and Romania were the only areas that had been classified as belonging in the red category.

This week the situation has worsened in various areas in Poland, in almost the entirety of Hungary and northern Romania, as well as that nation’s capital, Bucharest.

The map, which was published on Thursday, combines data on case notification rates per 100 thousand population and test positivity during the last 14 days (in this case covering the first two weeks of 2022).

The ECDC map does not record the number of deaths or hospitalisation, or the levels of vaccination. The map also does not account for the number of cases caused by the Omicron variant.

Orange zone areas are defined as the areas where the 14-day cumulative COVID-19 case notification rate is below 50 and the test positivity rate of tests for COVID-19 infection is 4% or more, or the 14-day cumulative COVID-19 case notification rate is between 50 and 75 and the test positivity rate is 1% or more, or the 14-day cumulative COVID-19 case notification rate is between 75 and 200 and the test positivity rate is lower than 4%.

Red zone areas are defined as the areas where the 14-day cumulative COVID-19 case notification rate ranges from 75 to 200 and the test positivity rate of tests for COVID-19 infection is 4% or more, or the 14-day cumulative COVID-19 case notification rate is more than 200 but less than 500 (when the cumulative rate exceeds 500 the area enters the “deep red” zone).

ECDC publishes relevant maps and data every Thursday, in support of the Council recommendation on a coordinated approach to the restriction of free movement in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The maps are based on data reported by the Member States to the European Surveillance System (TESSy) by midnight on Tuesday.