COVID19: 4 deaths, cases drop, tests on the rise

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Cyprus reported four deaths from COVID-19 on Friday, a drop in hospitalisations to 155 patients and 171 new infections, as the island’s epidemiological situation improves and the vaccination programme intensifies.

The health ministry said that three men, aged 51 to 72, and a 77 year old woman died, raising the death toll for May to 34 and the total since the pandemic started to 346.

To date, 229 of the deaths have been males (66%) and 117 women, with the average age dropping by 6 months to 77.5 years.

The daily Covid-report said that 155 patients are currently admitted in state hospitals for coronavirus treatment, down from 167 the day before and 224 last Sunday, while the number of critical patients dropped to 51, from 54 on Thursday and 62 last Sunday.

A near record 92,823 PCR and antigen rapid tests were conducted on Friday, compared to 109,846 last Sunday, prior to lifting of Lockdown III restrictions and schools and businesses reopening on Monday.

Some 171 SARS-CoV-2 infections were diagnosed, which based on the number of tests, generated a test positivity rate of 0.18%, a figure that has been dropping steadily throughout the week.

This raised the total for infections during the past 14 months to 70,742.

Of the day’s total, 32 were identified through contact tracing linked to previous infections, 50 were diagnosed from private lab and hospital tests, and 89 positive cases resulted from the national rapid testing programme.

Of these, 23 were in Nicosia (0.07% test positivity rate), 23 in Limassol (0.12%), 21 in Larnaca (0.18%), 3 in Paphos (0.05%) and 3 in Famagusta district (0.06%).

All of the 691 samples taken from residents and staff in retirement homes tested negative, as did passenger arrivals at Larnaca and Paphos airports, for the second day in a row.

Three students tested positive among 9,788 samples from high schools.