Expert says new coronavirus sub-variant expected to appear in Cyprus

The BQ1 sub-variant of the coronavirus is expected to come to Cyprus as well, Petros Karayiannis, member of the Advisory Scientific Committee and Professor of Microbiology/Molecular Virology at the University of Nicosia Medical School, has said, noting however that it is not more pathogenic than other subvariants of Omicron.

The professor pointed out that BQ1 was detected in Greece on Tuesday and it is only a matter of time before it comes to Cyprus.

Asked about the coming winter, Dr. Karayiannis said that he expected an increase in cases equal to the one we had in the summer.

He explained that the new variants of Covid-19 do not appear to be more pathogenic than the previous ones so the health systems are not expected to come under pressure, consequently, no restrictive measures will be needed except using the protective masque inside.

The professor asked people who are over 60 and have underlying medical conditions to get vaccinated noting that “those who do not armor their systems are wrong because we do not know who will get sick and how sick he/she will be.”

In-Cyprus