COVID19: Cases drop on fewer tests, one death

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Due to the Easter and May 1 holiday, the number of daily COVID-19 cases on Saturday dropped in Cyprus as fewer tests were carried out, while one person died.

The Health Ministry said an 80-year-old man had died with a history of taking the first dose of a vaccine.

It raises the death toll since the pandemic started to 313 with an average age of 78.

Four people died of the coronavirus on Friday, raising the final April death toll to 56.

December and January were the worst months on record, with 76 deaths each.

The number of patients admitted for hospital treatment dropped by one from the day before to 274, while those critical were oner more at 71. The average age remains unchanged at 58.6 years.

A total of 31,677 PCR and antigen rapid tests were conducted on Easter Saturday, almost 16,000 less than Friday as Cyprus prepares for a sombre Greek Orthodox Easter during Lockdown III.

Some 463 cases of SARS-CoV-2 were recorded, 213 less than the day before, but way below 700-800 seen this week.

The total number of infections during the past 14 months in Cyprus rose to 66,372.

Despite the lower cases numbers, the test positivity rate is worryingly high and rising, with Larnaca topping the table.

Daily cases and total tests generated a test positivity rate of 1.46%, slightly higher than Friday’s 1.42%, down from the critical 2.07% on Wednesday, which was based on 845 new COVID-19 cases.

Of the daily cases, 43 were identified through contact tracing linked to earlier infections, three tested positive among 3,230 passengers arriving at Larnaca and Paphos airports, and 150 were diagnosed from private labs, chemists and hospital tests.

A further 267 positive cases resulted from the national rapid testing programme, of which 102 were in Nicosia with a test positivity rate of 1.03%, 65 were in Limassol (1.13%), 53 in Larnaca (1.17%), 25 in Paphos (1.14%) and 19 in Famagusta district (1.01%).

Three samples from 162 National Guard soldier tested positive for COVID-19.