COVID19: May ends with 48 deaths, 50 new cases

Cyprus reported no Covid-related deaths for the third day in a row, ending May with a toll of 48 and 360 to date since the pandemic started.

At the same time, the health ministry said that 50 new cases of COVID-19 were recorded, up from 44 the day before, yet below the 56 on Saturday.

Hospitalisations were also reduced by three, with 70 patients being treated for SARS-CoV-2, as the number of critical cases were fewer by one at 31.

The improving epidemiological situation was boosted by ongoing vaccinations, with EU Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides saying that Cyprus is closing in on its target of vaccinating 65% of Cypriots, as over half of the adult population has already received a vaccine.

Cyprus Health Minister Constantinos Ioannou said that currently, about 53% of the population has been vaccinated with the first dose, and 28% have completed their vaccination.

Some 47,063 PCR and antigen rapid tests were conducted on Monday which, based on the 50 new cases of SARS-CoV-2, generated a test positivity rate of 0.11%, slightly above Sunday’s 0.09%, and continuing below the benchmark risk level of 1.00% throughout the previous week.

The total number of coronavirus infections during the past 14 months is now 72,457.

Of the new cases, 10 were discovered through contact tracing linked to earlier known infections, two passengers arriving at Larnaca and Paphos airports tested positive from among 3,739 samples, and eight were diagnosed from private lab and hospital tests.

A further 28 new cases were identified from the national rapid testing programme, of which 15 were in Limassol with a test positivity rate of 0.18%, 6 were in Larnaca (0.12%), 3 in Nicosia (0.02%), 3 in Paphos (0.08%) and one in Famagusta district (0.04%).

All tests at retirement homes (1,059 samples), industrial zones (698), high schools and other schools (5,393), and the National Guard (358) had negative results for COVID-19.