More than 7,500 workers have been tested so far for coronavirus so that they can travel to, from and between the Limassol and Paphos districts, Health Minister Constantinos Ioannou said on Wednesday.
The minister, who visited the testing centres in Limassol in the morning following the confusion and delays observed earlier this week after hundreds of people showed up, admitted they miscalculated the number of people expected to get tested.
The initial assessment was that around 5,000 people would be tested, but by Tuesday, that figure had topped 7,500.
“Unfortunately, a poor estimate was made on the number of people but also in terms of testing centres. It was mishandled,” Ioannou said after visiting the testing centres in Limassol along with mayor Nicos Nicolaides.
The minister had previously apologised on Tuesday for the inconvenience after thousands of workers mainly in Limassol and Paphos rushed to get tested so that they can travel to, from and between the two districts to get to their workplaces. The government had initially announced that as of 5am Wednesday these people would need to submit a negative coronavirus test certificate to be allowed to exit or enter Limassol and Paphos. But after a flood of complaints that people were waiting for hours for a test offered by the government free of charge, the health ministry postponed the requirement to present a negative result until 5am on Thursday.
Ioannou said they have taken into consideration these problems so that they do not occur again when the workers need to get tested again next week.
He said they increased the number of testing centres and sorted out other issues to avoid long lines and delays.
“Fortunately, in both stations we have visited so far, the people are being tested immediately, there is no delay, there are a few people waiting,” Ioannou said.
Asked to comment on complaints expressed in Paphos that, because the spread of the virus is not so intense, the measures implemented in the district are very strict and whether early relaxations were possible, Ioannou said it takes two weeks for the measures to show results. “Even if there is an indication that they are working,” he said, “we must give the necessary time so that we do not undo some measures and have a relapse.”
According to the latest national surveillance report published last week, Paphos was showing a declining trend as regards the spread of the virus.
The minister expressed hope that the measures would be effective, pointing out there were indications that the situation is stabilising.
