'ADDITIONAL MEASURES FOR LARNACA - MISDIAGNOSIS OF A STUDENT'

 Filenews 23 September 2020

Additional protection measures will be imposed for Larnaca, where it is the epicentre of the outbreak of the coronavirus, said the member of the Scientific Group at the Ministry of Health, Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences of the University of Cyprus Dr. Leontios Kostrikis, noting that the situation is particularly worrying. But he ruled out the possibility of a lockdown, noting that the measures would be more local, such as those taken in the case of Limassol in August.

Referring to what was transmitted about a case among students at the University of Cyprus, he said that the first diagnosis made by the government agencies and was positive seems to be wrong and the student is healthy.

Worrying situation for Larnaca, additional measures will be imposed

Dr Kostrikis said the chain of cases in Larnaca was worrying. "It concerns all members of the Scientific Committee. We are closely monitoring the development of things and the entire Scientific Group together with the Minister, we are ready to implement measures for Larnaca when and if necessary that can be done from day to day," he noted.

Asked about this, he said that the measures, which are expected to be taken, would be similar to those we implemented in Limassol when a similar outbreak occurred in August.

"Specifically, I can't tell you precisely, but it will have to do with reducing the number of people gatherings, the possibility of reducing the number of people in enclosed and open restaurant spaces and such issues," he added.

He said the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak right now is Larnaca. "In total we have 57 people in all clusters. There are four large clusters. The largest is that of the Metropolis of Kiti which is the Metropolitan himself positive, it is the cluster of the restaurant in Finikoudes, it is the cluster of the beach hotel and it is also the cluster of the football team with which a new cluster of another football team was created now. The existing ones are growing and the number of clusters in Larnaca province is increasing, focusing on Larnaca," he said.

Asked if a lockdown would be imposed, he replied in the negative. "Lockdown is remote, you don't need it right now. Measures are needed locally focusing on the number of gatherings. It seems that in Larnaca there is some relaxation of measures in a family, professional and social environment so there is an increase in the number of clusters," he noted.

The student of the P.C. was not positive for the crown in the first place.

Referring to what was heard about a case of a student at the University of Cyprus, Dr. Kostrikis stressed that the student was not positive for the crown in the first place and that the initial diagnosis made by the government agencies was incorrect and he found it positive.

"The sample was repeated yesterday by the laboratory of the University of Cyprus and is negative. So it looks like the positive is wrong. The student also repeated the test in an external private laboratory, the result of which was also negative. The student is negative. They made a mistake at the first diagnosis. The first diagnosis made by government agencies appears to be incorrect. In the laboratory of the University of Cyprus my own technique was used and in the external laboratory the techniques used in the other laboratories," he said.

Asked to further explain what his own technique consists of, he said it is based on a patent of his own that was registered in America in 2011 and used to diagnose SARS 1, the first outbreak of the virus.

"It is a technique by which a correct diagnosis is achieved even if the virus is genetically moved, i.e. when there are mutations of the virus, uses an increased number of genes for diagnosis, uses what we call a positive indicator in the experiment and has certain elements that greatly increase the likelihood of no mistake. At the University of Cyprus I adapted this patent for SARS 2. In addition to adapting it, I evaluated it with three international organizations that do diagnostic methodology evaluations and the results we had were 100% correct," he said.

Asked to comment on whether this technique can be widely used, Dr. Kostrikis said that "the University of Cyprus is not a biotechnological company, so we did this in the context of our research and in a research laboratory. In order to be widely used, this methodology must be used by a biotechnological company and adapted and produced in large numbers in other centres".

We have to be careful in schools.

The Professor said that from the situation in schools at the moment there does not appear to be any serious evidence of exacerbation.

"Schools are a place for gathering large numbers of people and we have to be extremely careful. For no reason should the use of the mask be abolished by both teachers and pupils. It's extremely important to use a mask no matter how difficult this thing is. International literature shows that the mask protects too much. They are indications that we have them in recent months and the mask is a barrier to the transmission of the virus."

Winter forecasts

Dr. Kostrikis said that the predictions for the winter months are that there is an increase in transmission of the virus and the reason is epidemiological since people at low temperatures tend to be more indoors, where there is an increasing trend of transmission of the virus.

He pointed out that the epidemic would be eradicated by vaccination. "The vaccine is the flagship of all medical efforts. So I believe that this epidemic will only be eradicated through vaccination, as was done with smallpox, polio, so this contagious disease will also be eradicated," he added.

Source: Eyenews / CYPE