An additional 32 ventilators were expected later this month to enter service at state hospitals while three intensivists from Greece were also expected, the state health services organisation (Okypy) said on Tuesday.

Okypy spokesman Charalambos Charilaou said the organisation had ordered 32 ventilators in the summer in a bid to be ready for a fresh wave of the pandemic.

Three new intensivists were also recruited from Greece and were also expected to arrive later this month.

Charilaou said so far Okypy has hired 62 nurses and six intensivists, including the three from Greece.

“We are always prepared for the worst,” Charilaou said. “There is a plan, which is in full swing.”

State hospitals have seen the number of Covid patients hovering above 200 with 80 in serious condition in the past couple of days while the number of infections has surpassed 25,000 in the past week, as the Omicron variant of the virus appears to be spreading like wildfire.

Charilaou said their attention was on the patients being treated in ICUs and high dependency units.

Eighty to 85 per cent of those hospitalised were not vaccinated, he said, urging people to get their Covid jabs to protect themselves from serious illness.