Women wearing face masks walk on a street in Nicosia, Cyprus on April 21, 2021. Cyprus recorded an all-time high of 941 new coronavirus infections in one day since the outbreak of the pandemic in early March 2020, the Health Ministry announced on Tuesday. (Photo by George Christophorou/Xinhua)
NICOSIA, April 20 (Xinhua) -- Cyprus recorded an all-time high of 941 new coronavirus infections in one day since the outbreak of the pandemic in early March 2020, the Health Ministry announced on Tuesday.
The new cases were detected from some 57,000 tests, with the positivity rate rising to 1.66 percent.
The ministry said total COVID-19 cases now topped 58,000, with death toll reaching 295 in the country with a population of less than one million.
It added that 277 patients were now in special COVID-19 hospitals, pushing public health facilities to their limits.
Petros Karayiannis, a member of the scientific team advising the Ministry of Health on the pandemic, said he was alarmed by the high number of infections and added that the members of the team will advise the government to keep restrictions in force at least until the middle of May.
He noted that the team will come out against relaxing restrictions on church services next week to mark Easter, the biggest religious feast of the Greek Orthodox Church.
Several restrictions in force since November were relaxed in February, leading to a steady increase of coronavirus infections.
Cyprus' President Nicos Anastasiades appealed to people to both follow personal protection rules and get vaccination, saying that receiving the jab is the only effective defense available in the fight to stem the spread of the coronavirus.
About 25 percent of the population has been vaccinated up to now, with the Health Ministry expecting the rate to go up to 65 percent by mid-June. Enditem
