The situation in public hospitals is manageable, Health Minister Michalis Damianos said on Sunday, amid hospital bed shortages resulting from a spike in the number of patients seeking treatment due to infections.

Speaking to CNA, the minister called on citizens to be more cautious and urged the public to limit contacts especially with people who belong to vulnerable groups, so that the health system, both public and private hospitals, can cope.

He also said that last Friday 21 more beds were made available in a private hospital, and as of Monday there will be 10 more beds available in the Nicosia General Hospital for such cases.

Theses measures are taken to manage the situation, he added.

Damianos specified there is no reason to panic, stressing that they have taken measures and will continue to take measures when needed. 

“There is pressure on the health system mainly from people who belong to vulnerable groups. If these people are infected with Influenza A, they will necessarily need hospitalization instead of remaining at home like most people.”

So far, six measures have been actioned to decongest the health system, which is under pressure, Damianos specified.

“First of all, we had sent a letter on December 13 to the state health services (Okypy)” so they could get organised over hospital bed admissions.

“When we saw after a few days that the system was receiving more pressure, on December 20 we had talked to all the private hospitals.”

Since December 23 private hospitals have started receiving patients from ambulances directly, so that the system itself is decongested.

Private hospitals within Gesy have so far received 314 cases, the minister specified.