COVID19: Cyprus new cases record, two more deaths

Cyprus broke an unwanted record of 369 daily cases on Saturday taking the total past 12,000 while recording two more deaths as the second COVID-19 outbreak worsens.

Two elderly people died on Saturday, an 81-year-old man and a woman aged 82, raising the December death toll from COVID-19 to 10 and 59 since the start of the pandemic.

Cyprus’ record of 369 cases – including 116 confirmed rapid tests – takes the total since March to 12,181 while 119 patients are currently being treated at state hospitals, 16 in a critical condition.

A majority of positive cases from PCR tests were detected through track and trace (100) and private initiative (131).

Almost half of COVID-19 related deaths recorded in Cyprus since the beginning of the pandemic were in November, the Health Ministry said.

November was the worst month on record for deaths and cases, but December is showing signs of the COVID curve steepening after twice breaking the record for daily infections.

Both patients that died had underlying health issues, the man was being treated at Famagusta General and the woman at Limassol General.

From the 59 COVID deaths, 38 were men (64%) and 21 (36%) were women, the mean age of patients that died was 76.

The Health Ministry said that 9,744 tests were conducted on Saturday, of which 4,007 were by PCR and 5,737 were rapid tests.

Of the latter, 181 were positive for COVID-19 and will require PCR confirmation over the next few days.

Most of these cases were in Nicosia (81) and Larnaca (63).

In Famagusta district, only 15 new cases were diagnosed through rapid tests.

More than half of the patients, 66 in total, are being treated at the COVID-referral clinic at Famagusta General hospital.