Covid cases, hospital admissions drop

Cases of Covid-19 and flu have significantly decreased, as the Omicron JN variant has come “full circle” a health ministry official said on Wednesday.

In the meantime, hospital admissions have effectively halved, chief of the medical services and public health Elisavet Constantinou told CNA.

More people have taken individual precautionary measures and coupled with increased vaccination numbers, there has been a drop in recorded Covid-19 and flu cases, she said.

Specifically, between January 15-21, there were 2,1239 cases with positivity at 2.1 per cent.

Constantinou said this was a decrease compared to the previous week.

“The new sub variant Omicron JN, has come full circle. It has overcome over 60-70 per cent of positive cases and people seem to have taken some personal protective measures which are masks, rapid tests and confining themselves to the house when they have symptoms.”

There has also been “a wave of interest for vaccinations, particularly for people over the age of 60 who are vulnerable”.

Hospital admissions are also at a decrease. Between the week of January 15-21, there were 32 admissions, down from 84 the previous week.

Admissions to ICU’s have also dropped, Constantinou added.

Regarding flu cases, she specified there are some cases of Influenza A and “very few cases of Influenza B”.

Based on the ministry’s network of doctors “it appears that the upper respiratory tract infection syndromes are showing a significant reduction this week, and this is encouraging.”

Typically, a flu has two peaks. One between January and February and the other in March.

“We seem to have gone through a peak in the past few weeks and that will be seen in the rates over the next few weeks. Indicatively, the epidemiological curves are coming down. This of course does not mean that people should stop observing personal protective measures,” she added.