The average age of new coronavirus cases is 23, the health ministry said, as a spike in infections has pushed Cyprus back into the red category of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).
Following a surge in coronavirus cases that started late in June, the health ministry detected 2,323 cases between June 16 and 29, with the cumulative diagnosis rate at 261.6 per 100,000 residents, the bimonthly epidemiological report revealed on Friday.
This places Cyprus in the red category, with the health ministry warning that cases are approaching the dark red category.
Countries are listed red if the 14-day cumulative rate ranges from 75 to 200 and the coronavirus test positivity rate is 4% or more, or if the 14-day cumulative diagnosis rate is more than 200 but less than 500.
Moreover, the ECDC categorises countries as dark red if the 14-day cumulative Covid-19 cumulative diagnoses rate is 500 or more.
The drop in the average age of people testing positive was attributed to the “low vaccination coverage in the under 40s and the lack of compliance [to coronavirus measures] in the places where people of these ages socialise”.
The ministry said that cases are low in older age groups, “due to vaccinations”, with less than ten% of people aged 40 and over being sick with coronavirus.
Concerning the 70 to 79 age group, where the vaccination coverage is at 92%, only 1.7% have tested positive, while 0.4% of those aged 80 and older, where the vaccination rate is 92.2%, have coronavirus.
Meanwhile, 62 people were hospitalised as of June 30 with a median age of 56 years and eight patients in the ICU.
Source: Cyprus Mail
