TRNC’s first COVID-19 case is local, not German!
Date Added: 08 February 2021, 16:16


Near East University has determined that the first COVID-19 case in the TRNC was a 17-year-old local case, contrary to the announced, not a German tourist.

Near East University retrospectively analyzed the COVID-19 cases in the TRNC, and determined that the virus was seen for the first time in the TRNC, not in the German tourist group as announced on March 10, 2020, but in a 17-year-old male patient in Famagusta.

Within the scope of the study aiming to determine whether the SARS-CoV-2 virus was seen in the community before the pandemic, samples of 172 patients who applied to the Near East University Hospital between 1 September 2019 - 15 March 2020 scanned retrospectively.


The first COVID-19 case in TRNC is not a German tourist!
As a result of the research, one sample dated March 11, 2020, was found to be positive from the samples examined. This result was confirmed by three different real-time RT-PCR tests. The positive sample belongs to a 17-year-old male patient who came from Famagusta State Hospital to the Near East University Hospital at that time. Considering the 2-14-day incubation period of the virus, it is understood that the patient who was found to be positive was exposed to the virus before the German tourist group, which was announced as the first case in the TRNC. Thus, it was determined that the 17-year-old patient, who was admitted to the hospital with fever, cough, severe muscle and joint pain at that time, was the first COVID-19 case in the TRNC.

The positive result of the patient's sample dated March 11, 2020, shows that the virus was seen in the TRNC before the arrival of the German tourist, the first case announced by the TRNC Ministry of Health on March 10, 2020. The diagnosis showing that the patient has a history of COVID-19 was once more confirmed through the antibody test dated February 1, 2021, which was carried out with the patient's approval.