A total of 246 people visited Nicosia’s accident and emergency department in the space of just 24 hours on August 13, a sharp increase on usual figures, it emerged on Thursday.
According to state health services (Okypy), the unit normally sees between 160 and 180 visitors per day, but this figure was well exceeded on August 13.
Of the patients, 206 were adults and 40 were children. The figure for children is not outside of the usual range, which according to Okypy is between 30 and 40 per day, though this is on an “increasing trend” according to Okypy spokesman Charalambos Charilaou.
Speaking to the Cyprus News Agency (CNA), Charilaou attributed the spike in accident and emergency department visits to the fact that many personal doctors are on leave.
He added that accident and emergency departments across the country had seen increased traffic throughout the month so far.
He also said Larnaca’s accident and emergency department is now being visited by between 140 and 150 adult patients each day.
On the subject of ongoing upgrades and improvement projects being undertaken at the Makarios hospital in Nicosia, he said work is “progressing at a good pace” and stated that all works will be completed on schedule.