Government should look at where transmission is actually occurring

 According to a New York Times articles dated July 18, 2021, Cyprus ranks 5th in a table of countries with the most Covid-19 cases in the world per 100,000 residents in the last seven days. How did Cyprus end up with this disaster of an epidemiological picture when it also has one of the highest vaccination rates in the world?

One can only put it down to the miscalculated measures of our government. The SafePass doesn’t work and the statistics testify to this fact. Since its introduction, the numbers of daily cases in Cyprus has soared. Many of us know at least one fully vaccinated person who has caught Covid and who has not only been symptomatic, but has transmitted Covid to both vaccinated and unvaccinated people in their family.

The Safepass allows vaccinated people to circulate amongst the community without taking a rapid test in settings where face masks are not worn such as in cafes, restaurants and nightclubs, even though they can both catch and transmit the disease.

Further, according to the government’s measures, vaccinated people are excluded from the obligation to self-isolated when they have come into contact with a confirmed case. This exception can only be described as reckless. Even the British government, with its laxer rules, obliges vaccinated people to self-isolate when they have come into contact with a confirmed case.

In order to escape the blame for its thoughtless measures, the Cypriot government is now blaming people who will not get vaccinated by introducing the suffocating and unreasonable obligation of having to have a rapid test every 72 hours in order to live, work and operate in the community.

This goes against everything the government was telling us before the vaccine, ie that mask wearing and following other hygiene measures keeps people safe.

If these measures do keep people safe, why do unvaccinated people need to take a rapid test in order to go to the supermarket, the bank, to pay their electricity or social insurance etc since, after all, they are wearing masks and following hygiene protocols in these settings.

Masks and other hygiene measures have proved to be very effective. Before the vaccine was introduced, we saw long periods of time with low numbers of cases in Cyprus, presumably because these hygiene measures did the job.

Transmission only seems to be occurring in settings where people take off their masks, such as in homes, at schools, children’s activities, restaurants and nightclubs.

So unless the government takes targeted measures where transmission is actually occurring and instead insists on irresponsible measures which simply reward the vaccinated and punish/coerce the unvaccinated, case numbers will continue to soar.

Name and address withheld