The opinion that in Cyprus an unrealistic number of rapid tests are carried out in Cyprus that cost millions to the state, without actually adding anything to the fight against the coronavirus pandemic, is expressed by the Cyprus Times Pulmonologist, Dr. Asked about what can help to bring us one step closer to full normality, he says that "the tests that are done on the general population do not help anything of substance".
"For Cyprus' population data, I think we are doing an unrealistic number of rapid tests - 100,000 a day - which does not solve the problem. This, testing and pandemic maintenance is convenient for some people to make millions," he says.
Asked to explain why he thinks the tests are no longer helpful, he says that the pandemic is clearly a problem of hospitalization and not whether someone gets sick and is gently going through it at home.
"Instead of 100,000 tests a day that cost the state 15 million a month, they should find a way to convince people who have not received the third dose of the vaccine - 50% have not done so - to be shielded and, if they get sick, to avoid hospitalization. With the 15 million a month we were building a hospital, intensive care units to be ready in case of any variant, outbreak or other health crisis," he notes.
At the same time he questioned why in Cyprus we do the same number of rapid tests as the UK of 70 million people.
"We should focus the tests on unvaccinated people, the elderly and vulnerable groups so that if they are found positive they can be given the antiviral drug in time. Doing so many asymptomatic tests does not help anything," he says.
[/P]At the same time, he notes that the excessive number of tests is also a deterrent for tourism, which will see that there are thousands of cases in Cyprus without considering that we are doing so many thousands of tests.
Finally, he reminds that there are now patients who are sick with flu, which is seasonal and expected.
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