Cyprus announced two deaths from COVID-19 on Tuesday, with 252 new cases raising the total since the pandemic started to 9,199, as authorities continued with the national programme of quick-result antigen rapid tests.
The Health Ministry said that the new coronavirus cases included 64 infections discovered through rapid tests over the previous days, but needed confirmation through the more accurate PCR method.
The ministry said that one rapid test result was confirmed as negative for SARS-CoV-2.
The two deaths were men, aged 64 and 75, both with underlying issues and were being treated at Nicosia General hospital. This raised the death toll since the pandemic started to 45, of whom 29 were men and 16 women, with the average age unchanged at 75.
Of the new coronavirus cases, 188 were positive results identified from 5,424 tests, with 116 attributed to contact tracing from known infections.
A further 16 were positive results from targeted testing on workers from Limassol and Paphos, that remain under partial lockdown until the end of November.
However, compared to earlier days, only three positive COVID-19 cases came from samples in old people’s homes. Two from the community care centre in Peristerona, west of Nicosia, and one from the Apostolos Pavlos home in Liopetri, where positive cases had been discovered in the days before.
In all, 10,959 tests were conducted, with the remaining 5,535 being the antigen rapid tests, producing 57 positive cases that require confirmation through the PCR method. Of these, 10 were in Limassol, 12 in Larnaca, 12 in Famagusta and 21 in Nicosia. The testing included two positive results from 1,568 samples taken from soldiers serving in the National Guard.
The number of patients being treated at state hospitals remains high, at 101, but lower than the 110 on Monday.
The Covid-referral clinic at Famagusta General hospital is operating at capacity, where 68 patients have been admitted and continue treatment, four of whom in the intensive care ward.
Of the remaining patients, 22 are at Nicosia General hospital and 11 at Limassol. Two infants that were being treated at the Makarios paediatric hospital in Nicosia have been released.
