NICOSIA – A quick lockdown and setting up of quarantine centers on Cyprus has led to a steady decline in the number of cases and deaths from the COVID-19 Coronavirus but health officials cautioned there are still infections.

Only two more cases were announced on May 12, bringing the total to 903 and with one death, a 72-year-old woman who had underlying health conditions, the fatality not attributed to the virus, said Kathimerini Cyprus. The death toll from COVID-19 is 16.

There were also 108 cases on the Turkish-occupied northern third of the island that was seized in an unlawful 1974 invasion and there haven't been any new cases there since April 17 and the last COVID-19 patient released from a hospital, the paper said.

Some 1,153 lab tests for the virus were conducted island-wide on May 12 and Dr. Marios Loizou, the scientific director of the state health services organization, said adhering to strict health measures will be kept and that he expected more cases would likely emerge after wide-scale testing.

“During recent weeks a steady decrease of confirmed cases has been observed,” Loizou said, adding that “the picture, despite any small fluctuations, remains positive.”