Coronavirus: decision to close Limassol primary schools yields results (updated)

The decision to close primary schools in Covid hotspot Limassol is apparently yielding results as fewer pupils have been infected, according to data published by the contact tracing team on Tuesday.

Meanwhile parents calling for the reopening of primary schools in the district are expected to hold a protest outside the district education office at 10am on Wednesday.

Between February 1 and March 20, most cases found in schools were detected in primary schools, 714, compared with 431 in lyceums (fourth, fifth, sixth years of high school).

Since the closures in Limassol, the number of cases has dropped from 120 per week between March 7 and March 13, to 80 between March 14 and March 20. (People infected between March 7 and March 14 were detected between March 14 and March 20, reflecting the drop).

Based on the data, a primary school pupil infects at least two other classmates beyond the potential transmission within their family.

The lack of mask use in primary schools together with the fact that children under 12 are not tested, hamper quick detection and isolation of infected individuals.