Coronavirus: second Covid ward opens at Paphos hospital

A second Covid-19 ward has opened at Paphos Hospital as the state health services scramble for beds amid a surge in admissions.

Okypy spokesman Charalambos Charilaou said that eight beds are currently operational in the new ward. With the completion of technical checks, the ward will number a total of 24 beds.

Paphos Hospital has another 22-bed Covid-19 ward which is full.

The number of coronavirus patients in the island’s state hospitals stood at a record-breaking 296 on Friday, with authorities bracing for more admissions as Cyprus’ new daily positive cases remain stubbornly high. Of the hospitalized patients, 38 are in intensive care units and another 36 in high dependency units.

As a further rise in admissions is expected in the next few days reflecting the high infection rate in the community, Okypy had taken steps to increase the number of beds in Covid-19 wards from 300 to 400, he said. There are also 65 ICU beds.

Charilaou said that although Paphos Hospital was the last to be brought into the battle against coronavirus, it is coping well with a highly skilled medical team.

He said the state hospitals were operating single hospital, taking into consideration the total number of beds in all.

Okypy’s operation plan is for Famagusta General, which is the reference hospital for coronavirus, to fill up first, followed by Nicosia, Limassol, Larnaca and finally Paphos.

He echoed calls to the public to get vaccinated at the first opportunity and to comply with social distancing and other health protocols.