No deaths from COVID-19 were reported on Saturday, as cases continued to plunge below three digits as Cyprus looks to ease more lockdown measures.
Cyprus shortened the curfew on Saturday, pushing it back to 1 am (until 5 am) from midnight before scrapping it all together on 10 June.
Saturday was the third day out of four with no deaths, as the May toll stands at 48 and 360 since the pandemic started in March 2020.
The Health Ministry said in its Covid bulletin that 56 new coronavirus cases were reported, 17 less than the day before, as the daily infection rate remained below 100 throughout the week.
The improving epidemiological situation, boosted by the ongoing vaccination programme, also saw the number of hospital admissions continuing to drop, at 74 on Saturday from 78 the day before; critical cases were also reduced by one to 30.
A shrinking number of patients has prompted authorities to shut down most Covid wards in state hospitals, maintaining Famagusta General as the Covid-reference hospital.
The Health Ministry said that 56,456 PCR and antigen rapid tests were conducted on Saturday, which, based on the 56 new cases of SARS-CoV-2, generated a benchmark ‘test positivity’ rate of 0.10%, down from 0.12% and far below the high-risk level of 1.00%.
The total number of coronavirus infections during the past 14 months has risen to 72,363.
The daily infections were discovered through four passengers testing positive among 3,014 arrivals at Larnaca and Paphos airports, and 15 were diagnosed from private labs, pharmacies, and hospital tests.
A further 36 were detected through the national rapid testing programme; the majority (16) were found in Nicosia with a test positivity rate of 0.09%.
Limassol was next with 13 cases (0.07%), one was in Larnaca (0.01%), and two were diagnosed in Famagusta (0.05%). No new cases were reported in Paphos.
The Health Ministry announced Saturday that 52% of the adult population had received at least one dose of a COVID vaccine, getting closer to 65% herd immunity.
Cyprus ranks third in the European Union in terms of vaccine doses administrated, with 65.35 doses per 100 inhabitants.
According to the latest data, 52% of the population has received a COVID jab (384,890 people), well above the EU average of 43.5%.
