INCREASED HOSPITAL ADMISSIONS AND DEATHS ARE EXPECTED

 Filenews 22 October 2020

The estimate that we will continue with triple-digit case numbers, expressed the member of the Scientific Group, Assistant Professor of Pathology at the European University and Pathologist, specializing in Infection Control Konstantinos Tsioutis, noting that the current outbreak takes weeks to control and it is expected that there will be an increased number of patient admissions to hospitals, as well as a record of deaths.

"We are at a critical point at the moment because there is now documented transmission in the community. We see multiple transmission chains in too many places and in many geographical areas. We have the province of Limassol, which is at the level of red and the province of Paphos, which is on an upward trend," he said.

Moreover, he noted, there are a very large number of contacts of all our fellow citizens, and many people are exposed every day to positive people and there are very large numbers of people, who must be self-contained because of exposure.

Also, he continued, hospitalizations and hospitalizations in the ICU have started to increase, so the full extent of the clinical effects of the outbreak of the last ten days we have not seen.

"We are still at an early point to clarify the extent of this outbreak and it is even a little early to see if the measures announced from last week are working. Before the end of this week we will not see a reduction. But we hope that from then on we will see some reduction if the measures announced are implemented," he added.

Essentially this sharp increase in cases has been around for ten days, he said. 'Now we're starting to see how many people need hospitalization because they have a serious disease, but to determine the extent and to be able to control it will take several weeks. That's why I think we're at a relatively early stage," he noted.

We'll continue with triple-digit case numbers.

Professor Chiutis said it is very likely that in the next few days we will continue to have triple-digit case numbers. "We hope that at the end of this week we will get some results with the measures announced and may start to fall from the weekend onwards as they were implemented and respected as announced," he said.

He recalled that in recent days we have had over 900 incidents, which is more than a third of all incidents recorded in Cyprus since the onset of the pandemic. "All this will take many weeks to reduce, i.e. we do not expect that next week the cases will suddenly fall sharply. What we want to see is a gradual reduction in the epidemiological curve. At the moment all the epidemiological indicators show that we are on an upward trend and we hope from next week to see some of these indicators decrease, which shows a little bit that this serious epidemic is beginning to be controlled," he pointed out.

The clinical effects of the outbreak, he stressed, will now begin to show. "Intensive care facilities have not yet been seen, people will need a hospital, people will be in isolation and self-confinement. We appeal in all directions whether they are workplaces, dining, entertainment, homes, individuals, to respect protection measures and Protocols," he noted.

Asked if there would be an increase in deaths, Dr. Chiutis replied that "just statistically speaking, the answer is yes. Of the cases identified, 1-2% die. Even if we do, you can see how many deaths we're going to have from those 900 cases that have been detected."

More measures will be announced to limit the crown.

Dr. Tsoutis said more measures would be announced to limit the crown. "Winter is coming, which makes things difficult, so we have to be as careful as possible. The good news is that Winter in Cyprus will come at the end of November at the beginning of December, so by then we hope to have checked this situation. However, the measures announced and to be announced must be respected. If they don't, we won't see improvement," he said.

The measures that are initiated and announced, he continued, are quite strict and without disrupting the economy or the psychology of the world if implemented will work and we will not have to go into lockdown.

"This is what we want to prevent. I believe that there is no reason in Cyprus with the characteristics it has and with the successes it has already achieved in two flare-ups, there is no reason to go into lockdown and that the measures implemented and the new ones that will be announced will have an immediate effect," he added.

The tele-education scenario to be taken into account in case it is necessary 

At the moment and with the data available, Professor Tsiotis said distance education is the ideal, which could be done, but at the level of Middle and Primary Education we know the social and family difficulties that this is likely to cause. On the contrary, he noted, universities have already started and we see that it works quite well.

"It is a scenario that should be taken into account and there should be a readiness if there is a worrying trend and intra-school transmission," he added.

Source: CYPE