Following a decision by the Council of Ministers, dated 8 April 2020, and a statement by the President of the Republic, the Ministry of Health would like to announce that as of tomorrow, 24 April 2020, it will begin random sample tests of 800 persons among the general public in Cyprus.
The purpose of the exercise is to assess the percentage of persons throughout Cyprus with an active infection, but also to compare the percentage of an active infection among the different age groups and regions island-wide.
The stratification was carried out per District and per age group and volunteers who will participate in the sample tests are already being notified. Having given their consent to participate in this process, appointments will be arranged to take the samples at Public Health medical centres. It is noted that throughout this process, the personal data of those volunteers who are participating will be strictly safeguarded, in accordance with the recommendations of the Commissioner for the Protection of Personal Data.
The random sample tests and the processing of data are expected to be concluded by 28 April 2020. The findings of the sample tests will contribute to the wider effort by the Government to chart the course of the virus in our country.