Increased testing for coronavirus and the shortage of masks were two major causes of concern which were addressed by the government in an address to the public on Wednesday night.
Increased testing among the population, including 20,000 on those still working outside home, will be rolled out in the coming days in order to get a better grasp of the Covid-19 outbreak, the Health Minister Constantinos Ioannou said.
Randomised testing of 800 people across the Republic will be carried out in order to obtain a clearer epidemiological picture of infections amongst the population.
This will also clarify the spread amongst various age groups and regions.
A further 20,000 tests will be conducted on those who are still working and are therefore at greater risk of contracting the virus.
The tests will cover workers in both the public and private sector and will be subsidised by the health ministry.
Asymptomatic cases are also a major concern.
“It’s a headache for us, many patients are without symptoms,” Health Minister Constantinos Ioannou said at the press conference on Wednesday night.
“Therefore they don’t know that they have the virus and it can be dangerous.”
He said the two batches of testing will clarify the scale of the problem. At the moment, the government believes about 13 per cent of those infected are asymptomatic.
More results from the testing programme will clarify the number of people infected without showing symptoms.
The health minister was also asked about a global shift towards asking, or in some cases, requiring citizens to wear masks in public.
Specifically, he was asked about the importation of masks and whether it would be possible for them to be made in Cyprus.
“As for them being made in Cyprus, that’s not deemed possible,” he said.
“In Europe, there are two countries requiring people to wear masks. The latest from the World Health Organisation is that masks in public are not necessary.”
He said, however, that since there is a shift in directions towards such a policy he has – since Monday – issued a tender for masks.
Specifically, the tender calls for the procurement of nine million masks at a cost of 3 million euros.
“The results of this tender are expected by the end of the week,” he said.
“These measures are precautionary, despite the fact that it is not currently advised by the WHO, so that we may be able to move towards such a policy.”
It was also noted that there is a shortage of masks for hospital staff and they have not been available for purchase in pharmacies for about a month.
On the issue of chloroquine, the health minister said that Cyprus has secured enough for 240,000 patients.
He added that Cyprus was one of the first countries in the world to have approved chloroquine as part of a treatment protocol for Covid-19 patients.
The drug as part of treatment for both adults and children was approved ten days ago.
