Health Ministry decree: Non-emergency surgeries postponed

All non-emergency surgery at state and private hospitals will be postponed from 17th July, a new decree issued by Health Minister said on Thursday.

The decree comes as the number of cases in Cyprus is over a thousand for the last two days, with hospitalisations on the rise, putting pressure on the island`s health system.

The decree said that all scheduled operations for non-emergency cases as well as admissions for patients where their health is not in danger are postponed from the 17th July at 01:00.

The decree underlines that outpatient services and surgeries on an outpatient basis are allowed at all clinics.

Hospitals in both the public and the private sector continue to operate with a cap that determines the maximum occupancy of beds at 70 %, excluding ICU beds, where the cap is set at 60%.

The Ministry said the vaccination programme is continuing at satisfactory levels and that by 14th July, a 68.5% was vaccinated with the first dose and 59.9%  

Meanwhile, Health ministry Spokeswoman Margarita Kyriakou told CNA that there is response at the «walk-in» vaccination centres that started operating from Thursday.

She noted that all available vaccinations were completed at Linopetra Health centre in Limassol. Each Walk-in centre has around 100 Pfizer vaccinations available. However, the number will be increased according to demand, said Kyriakou.

Meanwhile, the Health Ministry also announced that the maximum a rapid test can be charged is 20 euros.