Cyprus reports ‘alarming’ rise of variant cases

Cyprus’ Health Ministry says the spread of the UK variant of the coronavirus throughout the east Mediterranean island nation has marked an “alarming” increase, making up 95.5% of all new infections from Feb. 16 through Mar. 6.

The Ministry said statistics show that cases of the UK variant have more than doubled from the two-week period covering Feb. 1-Feb. 15.

It said various studies completed within several European countries have indicated that the UK variant is 50% more contagious. In Cyprus, it’s also appearing in younger Covid-19 patients which has resulted in more hospitalizations of younger people.

Between Mar. 10-Mar. 23, 5,093 new Covid-19 cases have been diagnosed. The 14-day cumulative diagnosis rate is 573.5 per 100,000 population.

As of Mar. 23, a total of 42,028 Covid-19 cases have been diagnosed on the island nation of around 900,000 people, of which 248 died due to Covid-19.

[AP]