THEY ARE ASSESSING THE PANDEMIC TODAY AT THE MINISTRY

 Filenews 22 October 2020  by  Marilena Panagi

Epidemiological data, as they will result from the updated analysis, which the members of the epidemiological committee are expected to present to the Minister of Health early in the morning, will also depend on the decisions that the Government may take even today during the Cabinet meeting.

Health Minister Konstantinos Ioannou will meet with the scientists, with the aim of reviewing the situation and assessing the effectiveness of the measures implemented in recent days, both locally in Limassol and in Cyprus.

At the same time, it is expected that the updated epidemiological bulletin will be ready, which immediately after his meeting with the scientists, Konstantinos Ioannou, will present to the Council of Ministers, in order to take, if necessary and relevant decisions, which are not excluded to concern further escalation of measures.

Yesterday, however, from early in the morning, the scientists expressed their concern about the rise that continues to occur in the index of transmission of the coronavirus and the reflection, in the Ministry of Health intensified in the afternoon, when apart from the fact that the number of new cases was once again three-digit, it was found that beyond any doubt and on the basis of the data , most cases involve symptomatic patients. This phenomenon, as the data show, has been stable for about two weeks and cannot go unnoticed. The Ministry of Health also made a reference to this, announcing the new cases of coronavirus: "It is indicative that of the 12 people examined, through the special teams programme, only two were subjected to the examination under pre-operative control. The remaining 10 people were referred by their personal doctor due to symptoms they experienced."

Clear indications are given by the situation in the hospitals as yesterday, a total of 23 patients were hospitalized, three of whom were with mechanical support in the Increased Care Unit, both intubated in the Intensive Care Unit. "In the last three days, the number of people in need of hospitalization has exceeded 20 with an upward trend," the health ministry said, adding that, "at the same time, there has been an increase in people who have more severe symptomatology and need hospitalization, which unfortunately confirms estimates that, with the significant increase in daily cases, the risk of being exposed to people belonging to vulnerable groups of the population is also increasing."

In its report of the day, yesterday 127 new cases of coronavirus were announced, resulting from a total of 3,309 laboratory tests and, as the Ministry of Health stressed in its communication, "the ratio between cases and laboratory tests shows that strict compliance with protection measures is required, since one in 25 people tested tested positive for the virus".

In the meantime, the Ministry of Health yesterday also made strict recommendations to the personal doctors and paediatricians of the GHS, since, as stated in a communication, "in recent days it has been observed that some personal doctors avoid examining patients with influenza assistance" and refer without investigation their patients who show symptoms, to public health clinics, in order to undergo an examination for the crown.

Complaints, from citizens, that they cannot locate their personal doctor, is also received by the telephone line 1420. As ambulance service supervisor Rihanna Konstantinou said, "we have complaints from citizens who tell us that they are trying to contact their personal doctors, but they are not answering their phone."

Scream of anguish, from the ambulance service

Once again, the officers of the ambulance service are in a difficult position, since, as the head of the department states, the phenomenon of last March is repeated.

"In 1420, it was in operation for people with coronavirus, who are worsening their symptoms and need to be transferred immediately to a hospital," said Rihanna Konstantinou, adding, "unfortunately, we see the phenomenon of March repeating itself, when citizens were calling us to ask various questions and thus holding the telephone lines occupied."

Since last Thursday, he said, "we receive more than 1000 calls a day and 99% do not concern matters of our competence. We cannot answer a question about how many days a teacher who is in isolation should stay at home, or when allowances will be given by the Ministry of Labour, or when someone who is considered contact will be called for examination and we certainly cannot know the outcome of a person being examined for the crown virus."

That is why, said the head of the ambulance service, "I appeal once again to the public not to occupy our call centre, because at the moment, we have many patients with symptoms and some of them need our help. To have it, they must be able to find a phone line to contact us. Citizens who have other questions can contact either 1412 or the state agency responsible for their case."

In order to manage the situation properly, he concluded, "we must all, including citizens, work together. No one wants us to lose a person because they couldn't contact 1420."