One more has died in South Cyprus from Covid-19, a woman aged 78, and another 38 tested positive, bringing the total number of the dead to 15, for ten of whom Covid-19 was the cause of death, and the number of positive cases to 564.
South Health Minister Constantinos Ioannou said via social media that random testing of citizens will start by Monday.
Meanwhile,
The number of UK Cypriots who have died from Covid-19 has exceeded 150.
It said 95 Greek Cypriots, 55 Turkish Cypriots and a Maronite, all British Cypriots living in London, have died from coronavirus.
Another 300 are understood to have contracted the virus and a number have been hospitalised.
“The situation is very sad,” Michael Yiakoumi of Parikiaki told CNA.
He said the newspaper’s research has shown that the Cypriot community appears to be far more vulnerable to coronavirus than other ethnic communities in the UK.
“I think it has to do with the fact that Cypriots here live with their families. The other ethnic communities who have similar behaviour and live in the same neighbourhoods as Cypriots, even those from Greece, do not have that many elderly people,” he said.
The heavy toll on the Cypriot community is also attributed to their concentration in London boroughs such as Barnet and Enfield which have a high number of cases.
One more tested positive in North Cyprus raising the total there to 96. The North also count three deaths; two German tourists and one Turkish-Cypriot.
Repatriations continue on Friday with five flights scheduled to fly in and out of Larnaca airport on Friday as the British High Commission asks UK tourists stranded in Cyprus to register to be notified about future flight options.
The Blood Bank said it received a moving response from donors who flooded in to help tackle the shortage crisis that emerged at the start of the outbreak.
