Coronavirus: Minister calls emergency meeting amid record cases (updated)

The health minister is holding an emergency meeting on Wednesday to discuss the spike in coronavirus cases and possible measures to contain it with his advisors, a spokesman said.

The meeting will be held at 4pm.

It follows the sudden surge in infections, which were close to 2,000 on Monday, with experts expecting the situation to get worse. Monday’s 1925 cases were the highest ever recorded in Cyprus since the start of the pandemic.

At the same time, however, hospitalisations remained relatively low, although half of the Covid patients were being treated in ICUs or high dependency units.

Of the 161 people in hospital, 78 were in serious condition – 26 intubated in an ICU and 47 in HDUs.

Dr Michalis Voniatis stressed the need for immediate measures, before the New Year, warning that infections would rise further without them.

Voniatis said measures had to include night clubs and workplaces, where over half of staff should be allowed to work from home.

He said it would become clear by the end of the week whether the rise in infection would bring about a rise in hospitalisations.

Professor of medical and molecular genetics Constantinos Deltas did not rule out a further rise in infections after the New Year’s celebrations.

“The rate with which the number of infections is rising for weeks is indicative of what may happen next week,” he told Alpha television.

Deltas was not yet convinced that the Omicron variant, which appears to be taking over, does not cause serious illness.

“It appears that not everyone’s illness is mild,” he said. “A small percentage will fall seriously ill and perhaps would need to be hospitalised and treated in ICU.”

Citing an unnamed source, the Cyprus News Agency said a lockdown was not on the table.

The agency said the rise in infections was expected but not so suddenly. On the other hand, hospitalisations were stable for the time being so experts want to see the results in the next couple of days.

The source said a lockdown was not on the table and any new measures would aim at containing the spread.