Coronavirus: Cabinet to discuss further easing of restrictions

The cabinet is meeting Wednesday and is expected to discuss possible easing of coronavirus measures in sports and cultural events.

The epidemiological data of the last days will be evaluated and the cabinet will decide if there can be new relaxations regarding training with a coach, some football training, and training for other sports under strict health protocols.

Some easing in the field of culture are also to be discussed.

The scientific advisors have warned de-escalation should be gradual and controlled to prevent setbacks.

From February 1, Cyprus entered a first phase of easing measures and from February 8 a second phase will follow. Restrictions on gatherings, curfews and SMS sending are valid until February 15 based on the latest decree.

On Tuesday, Petros Karayiannis, government adviser and professor of microbiology and molecular virology at the University of Nicosia Medical School, said numbers have stabilised at around 100 cases in the last few days and expressed hope they will decline further.

“If not for so many tests a day, we might have double-digit numbers, but with the 25,000 (daily) tests done in the last few days, we expect to detect more cases in the coming days,” he said.

“The lockdown measures paid off. We managed to reduce the number of cases from 900 to about 100.”

If there is a problem it will become apparent in the next two or three days, he added.

“The other encouraging thing is that hospital admissions have dropped, while there has been a small drop in cases in intensive care units.”