Coronavirus: Six new cases (Updated)

Six new cases were detected on Saturday, one of which arrived from abroad with the rest from contacts of people who tested positive in Limassol earlier in the week.

According to the health ministry, the six positive cases were among 1,682 tests given during the past 24 hours.

One of the new cases is a Cypriot who arrived from the UK on July 16. At the time he had presented a negative test, he self-isolated and was tested again on his own initiative just before his isolation ended.

Four of the new cases are contacts of one of the two people tested positive on Friday.

The sixth case is a contact of one of the people who tested positive on Thursday, which was itself a contact of a woman who tested positive on Tuesday. This is the fourth person linked to Tuesday’s case that concerned a Cypriot woman who was referred to take a test after displaying symptoms.

All five local cases announced on Saturday are from Limassol.

According to data by the health ministry, 34 of the 55 cases detected between June 24 and July 23, were imported and 21 were local.

The increasing numbers of local cases and the recent detection of cases with no travel history or who are not contacts of people who had tested positive, prompted the health ministry to launch a new testing programme in all districts to check the extend of the virus’ presence in the community.

Health Minister Constantinos Ioannou announced earlier on Saturday that 3,000 random tests will be given in all districts, mainly in Limassol.

The total number of cases is now at 1,053.