Cyprus’ Department of Meteorology issued a high temperature warning which is valid from 1300 until 1600 local time on July 15. The awareness level is yellow.
The maximum temperature at inland areas is expected to be around 41 degrees Celsius and around 33 degrees Celsius over Troodos highest peaks.
Meanwhile the Department of Forests has announced that the danger for forest fires to break out and extend will remain at “Red Alert” level on Thursday.
It is prohibited to light fire without permission. Offenders will be punished according to the Law for the Forests with up to 10 years imprisonment or a 50,000 Euros fine or both penalties and according to the law for Preventing Fires in Rural Areas with up to 5 years imprisonment or a 20,000 Euros fine or both penalties.
The public is asked to be really careful while visiting the forests and rural areas, refraining from any activities that may cause fire.
Source: Cyprus news Agency
Increased vaccinations and not a lockdown will save help bring COVID cases down, says epidemiologist
The option of a lockdown will only restrict the number of cases but will not have a permanent effect, said epidemiologist Michalis Voniatis on Wednesday and urged people to get vaccinated.
He told CNA that another lockdown will restrict the number of cases. But if we are not vaccinated when the lockdown is lifted, we will have an increased number of cases. We cannot close and open up continuously, this does not solve the problem. We must be practical. There is enough data that shows that we can solve the problem through vaccinations. However, we need to achieve the desired level, to surpass 80%, even 85%, he added.
Dr. Voniatis said a quick lockdown with a high number of vaccinations will be effective but one without vaccinations will not have a permanent effect.
He said the high numbers we have witnessed in the last few days were expected due to the relaxation of measures, the slow vaccination progress and the presence of the Delta variant but also due to the fact that people fail to take personal protective measures.
“We already have many hospitalisations on a daily basis and many young people on life support. All these issues should worry us”, he added.
Asked what measures can be taken, he said it is not a matter of measures. Even if we increase our vaccination coverage at the moment by 15%, we will still not see a difference, if not for a month. He also criticised restaurants, night clubs, discos and entertainment venues for not maintaining personal protective measures, thus we will not be able to see the number of cases dropping.
“The main issue is to intensify the vaccination programme so that everyone will come forward to be vaccinated, if we want to get rid of this situation”, he concluded.
Source: Cyprus news Agency