The possible arrival of Centaurus, a new Covid subvariant which is more contagious but not more severe, in tandem with the downward trend in infections with the BA.5 subvariant in the last seven days in Cyprus, is not alarming, the Minister of Health, Michalis Hadjipantela said on Thursday.
In his statements after a meeting with members of the Advisory Scientific Committee on coronavirus, Hadjipantela also said that it was decided to prepare a roadmap for autumn. The Minister also announced the decision to carry out another type of diagnostic test, which will detect not only the coronavirus but also other viruses in order to deal with them in a targeted manner.
Hadjipantela said they discussed two issues at the meeting, the new subvariant Centaurus, and the course of action with regard to tackling Covid in autumn.
He referred to the letter by the EU Health Commissioner, Stella Kyriakides, in which, he said, she asked all member states to take some measures and prepare a roadmap ahead of autumn. At the same time, he added, “some of our scientists had requested an emergency meeting” to discuss the issue of the new subvariant.
As regards Centaurus, Hadjipantela said that as he has been informed, it is a new subvariant from India, which is more contagious, “but fortunately” not more severe.
He said that the positive of the situation was that Centaurus is to arrive in Cyprus “after we have overcome the BA.5 subvariant”. Hadjipantela said the BA.5 outbreak the country has been experiencing, has shown a downward trend in the last seven days, so, he added, if the new Centaurus subvariant arrives, is not alarming.
He also said that they are monitoring the mutations in Cyprus for early detection of Centaurus if it arrives in the country.
The Minister conveyed the message of scientists that vaccines protect against the virus and that they urge people over 60, who should be vaccinated with the fourth dose, to do so.
Hadjipantela also said that they have decided to prepare a roadmap to be implemented in autumn.
Asked about what the roadmap includes, he said that they have discussed some types of “multiple testing” for various viruses. He explained that this is a test that detects several viruses at the same time, not just coronavirus, “so that we know at each particular moment how many viruses we have in our country”. He said this was decided so that these viruses could be tackled in a targeted manner.
Also, he said, some tests will be introduced for some infections that affect children, “so that we know the specific infections that we have at each particular moment.”
He also said the roadmap will provide guidelines on possible measures concerning the opening of schools based on the data available at the time, and how to proceed if any new mutations are detected.
Source: Cyprus News Agency