Sixty people, mostly elderly, are being treated in public hospitals for Covid-19 at the moment, while there is a constant flow of patients with infections, state health services organisation (Okypy) spokesperson Charalambos Charilaou said on Wednesday.

Charilaou told CNA there was a stable number of patients being treated at the moment. “It is an increased number compared to other weeks, there seems to be a contagion in the community which is also reflected in terms of hospitalisations,” he added.

He explained that the people hospitalised are predominantly elderly, over 75 years old, “with quite a few cases coming from nursing homes.”

As regards other infections, he said that they were within the expected range. “We are in the winter season, people are crowding into closed spaces, probably without adequate ventilation, and this is why we have this contagion,” he pointed out. “There is indeed an increased flow of patients with viral and bacterial infections,”, he noted, adding that this is within the anticipated parameters.

Charilaou said that “there is an increase in respiratory syncytial virus infections, as expected and recorded every year”.

“We have seen some cases of influenza but of a mild form. It is expected that the flu will appear between mid-January and the end of February,” he added.