More cases of flu as Covid numbers fall

Hospitals have seen an increase in influenza A and B with fewer cases of Covid and RSV, the director of medical services said on Friday.

Elisavet Constantinou told the Cyprus News Agency that there were currently 39 people hospitalised with flu strains, around the same number as this time last year.

“Generally, we had an increase in admissions from respiratory infections. Most of the cases have been flu, then come numerically the cases of Covid and RSV,” she said.

“There were around 39 flu admissions last week. In general, there is an increase in respiratory viruses but most are cases of influenza A and B. They are about the same percentages as last year.”

Constantinou said that 11.24 per cent of the population has been vaccinated against the flu and more than 100,000 flu shots have been administered.

In relation to the Covid incidents, Constantinou said there were much less cases at the moment.

“For the week of February 5-11 there was a further decrease in the positivity rate and the number of cases was 809 and the positivity rate has been reduced to 0.9 per cent. By extension, admissions to hospitals and intensive care units have also decreased. The reduction we see is across all ages,” she added.

Constantinou recommended that people continue to observe personal protection measures, which are the same for all respiratory viruses.