Singapore study projects Cyprus may be COVID-19 free by May 24

A quick lockdown on Cyprus helped hold down the number of cases and deaths from the COVID-19 Coronavirus so well that the island is expected to be free of the pandemic on May 24,  a study found.

It was conducted by students of the Data Innovation Club, at the Singapore University of Technology and Design, the report finding the pandemic peaked in Cyprus on April 5, four days after the highest number of cases in one day, 58, was reported.

The report said the virus should be 97 percent gone by April 29, 99 percent by May 8, and 100 percent 16 days later, and end on the planet by Dec. 9, with some countries, hit harder than others.

That’s apparently good news for Cyprus which is still hopeful that tourists will come if international air traffic picks up again and people are willing to travel after enduring lockdowns and the psychological terror the virus also brought.

Some had said they would adjust their lifestyles and travel less after the pandemic rattled the world to the core and brought immobilizing fear along with the disease, and saw country after country lock down its borders and homes.

The study took into consideration the lifecycle of past pandemics and the factors that affect it as well as geographical particularities for each country, said The Financial Mirror, which also reported there were four cases on May 5 with health authorities announcing that one more patient who had coronavirus has died but the virus was not the cause of death.

The victim was a 56-year-old man with serious underlying health issues, which, according to authorities, led to his death. The man was being treated at Nicosia General Hospital’s Intensive Care Unit (ICU.)

The number of patients who had coronavirus and died is 21, but those whose death was attributed by doctors to COVID-19 remains at 15. Eleven men and four women have died from the coronavirus with a median age of 73 years.

The four new cases were identified after 1,250 tests were carried out, taking the total since the outbreak to 878 (including 10 on British military bases) on the island, with the data showing no one positive from 84 tests on frontline workers, 72 workers in the retail food and beverage industry and nursing homes for the elderly, among the most susceptible.

Two people tested positive from 179 tests conducted in the context of tracking and tracing contacts of people that have been infected, and two tested positive from 526 tests conducted privately, the news site said.

According to the health services, since April 11 some 19,555 tests have been carried out on frontline workers in the public and private sector and a new government testing scheme to cover 20,000 employees of retail stores and workers at construction sites was launched in May 4, with no results yet reported.

Presenting the epidemiological data regarding new COVID-19 cases, members of the epidemiological committee, Dr. Leontios Kostrikis said that the low number of cases showed the strict approach to the deadline with the disease had worked.

He urged people to abide by health protocols that included frequent hand washing and other protective measures. “Despite being low, today’s (May 5) results indicate that the virus is still present within our community. There is no room for complacency,” he also said.

Read more at thenationalherald.com

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