A 27-year-old man is the youngest coronavirus patient currently being treated at the Famagusta general hospital, where admissions have fallen following the introduction of stricter measures, the director of the facility said on Tuesday.

Until Tuesday morning, 38 patients were treated at the hospital including three in the high dependency unit, its director Amalia Hadjiyianni told the Cyprus News Agency. About five of them are expected to be released.

“Some people who were treated at the high dependency unit recovered and were referred to other clinics,” she added.

The rest of the patients are elderly, with the oldest aged 94, according to Hadjiyianni.

Hospital admissions have dropped following the health ministry’s decision to introduce stricter restrictions on January 10 because of the high number of Covid patients at state hospitals.

Calling the public to remain faithful to the health protocols, Hadjiyianni said “it is gratifying that the epidemiological picture of Cyprus has improved, the people are relieved, but there should be no relaxation [of the measures].”

The director said that vaccinations also contributed to the reduction in hospital admissions.

“Vaccinations seem to have reduced the positive cases of coronavirus in people living in care homes or similar facilities,” she said.

Only one of the patients in Famagusta hospital comes from a care home, and the pensioner had not been vaccinated to date.