First case of coronavirus detected in Northern Cyprus

By Salman Siddiqui

A 65-year-old female tourist, who had arrived in the TRNC from Germany on Sunday evening, tested positive for the coronavirus Tuesday, the health minister revealed this week as the government announced a series of precautionary steps to deal with the ongoing threat in the island.

This is the first reported case of the virus in North Cyprus.

Health Minister Ali Pilli told the official TAK news agency the coronavirus victim had arrived via the Ercan Airport as part of a tour group of 30 people from Germany's Balingen town. They were staying at a hotel in Mağusa that was immediately placed under quarantine once the test result came out positive.

The victim was taken to the Dr. Bruhan Nalbantoğlu State Hospital in Lefkosa on Monday after she complained of high fever, Pilli said; her test result later came out positive.

The minister said the overall health of the tourist remains stable as her treatment at the hospital continues.  

Prime Minister Ersin Tatar announced several precautionary measures following an extraordinary meeting of the Council of Ministers to deal with the threat soon after the case was confirmed:

- All charter flights will be cancelled until April 1.

- All schools will be closed until March 15. The schools will be disinfected.

- Children festivals and activities will be banned.

- Tour groups from the South to the North of the island will not be allowed.

- Three hotels in the TRNC to remain under quarantine.

- Disinfection of all museums and archaeological sites, which have been shut down, will be carried out.

Education Minister Nazım Çavuşoğlu elaborated in a tweet that all public and private schools, including kindergartens and universities, in North Cyprus would remain closed until March 15.

The TRNC tourism sector is already feeling the heat of the government measures. Union of Turkish Cypriot Travel Agencies President Orhan Tolun said 30 percent of old reservations and 80 percent new reservations had been cancelled following the government announcement. “No measures should be taken to make the situation more serious than it is,” Tolun said.

Turkish Cypriot Hoteliers Association President Dimağ Çağıner said the government steps would adversely affect the country’s economy and urged the government to not take steps that would end up hurting trade and tourism.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Kudret Özersay, however, said more measures might be taken as the fluid situation develops.

“New measures might be taken if there are new situations. Everyone, not just the government, should take [precautionary] measures,” Özersay added.

The Health Ministry also sent out an SMS message to all TRNC residents with the number of a hotline: "If you travelled to countries with cases of Covid 19 disease, if you have fever, difficulty in breathing and coughing, please call the epidemic hotline of the Ministry of Health 24/7 on 0533 850 11 88 or 0548 850 11 88."

Across the border in South Cyprus, health officials said there were six confirmed Covid-19 cases, including two passengers who arrived from the U.K. and a taxi driver; four of whom are Greek Cypriots.

The number of new infections is continuing to rise around the world. According to the Johns Hopkins University coronavirus tracker website Thursday, there were 126,258 confirmed cases and 4,638 deaths.

China, where the virus is said to have originated from, tops the list of countries with the most infections (80,932 cases) and deaths (3172), majority of which took place in the country’s Hubei province.

Italy is next with 12,462 cases and 827 deaths; Iran is in third place with 9,000 cases and 354 deaths; South Korea (7,869 cases, 66 deaths); France (2,284 cases, 48 deaths); Spain (2,277 cases, 55 deaths); Germany (1,966 cases, 3 deaths); the U.S. (1,966 cases, 38 deaths); Switzerland (652 cases, 4 deaths); Japan (639 cases, 16 deaths); Norway (629 cases); Denmark (514 cases); Netherlands (503 cases, 5 deaths); Sweden (500 cases, 1 death); and the U.K. (459 cases, 8 deaths).

Turkey on Wednesday confirmed its first case of the coronavirus, saying the male victim had recently returned from Europe.

Greece, which has 99 confirmed cases, reported its first fatality from the infection on Thursday; the 66-year-old man had returned from a religious pilgrimage to Israel (109 cases) and Egypt (60 cases, 1 death). 

Australia too has seen a spike in cases (128); 3 people were also reported dead there. Hollywood Actor Tom Hanks was also tested positive for the virus in Australia while he was filming for his new movie on Elvis.

Also this week, American President Donald Trump took the extreme step of banning travel to the U.S. from most of Europe for 30 days after he accused the EU for seeding hotspots in the country. The travel ban would not apply to the U.K., Ireland, American citizens, cargo, as well as non-Schengen countries in Europe.

Contrary to popular belief that all coronavirus victims are doomed once they get the disease, thousands of people are also making a full recovery. So far, 68,300 people have fully recovered from the virus, with China leading the destinations where people have made full recoveries (50,318 in Hubei; 1,289 in Guangdong; 1,249 in Henan; 1,197 in Zhejiang). In Iran too people are recovering (2,959 full recovery cases) while 1,045 others have made total recoveries in Italy.

This story was first published in the Cyprus Today in March 2020.