COVID19: One death, 30 patients, 57 new cases

Cyprus reported one death attributed to COVID-19 on Monday and a drop in hospitalisations, but an increase in new infections from 33 to 57, as the vaccine rollout portal opened to all ages to speed up the inoculation programme.

Health authorities reiterated that only through vaccinations will the coronavirus pandemic be effectively controlled, while from Friday onwards, the online portal will be accessible for everyone over 18.

Cyprus’ much improved epidemiological data peaked at 940 daily cases in April and dropped to double digits within a month, with officials saying that 95% of new cases involving who have not been vaccinated.

The health ministry said in its daily Covid bulletin that a 68 year old man was the 14th person to die in June, raising the death toll since the pandemic started to 374.

It said that 30 patients are currently admitted in state hospitals for treatment, two less than on Sunday, of whom 11 are critical, from 12 the day before.

Some 39,852 PCR and antigen rapid tests were conducted on Monday which, based on the 57 new cases, generated a test positivity rate of 0.14%, mildly above 0.10% on Saturday and 0.08% on Sunday, and significantly less than the high-risk benchmark of 1.00%.

The total number of infections during the past 15 months has reached 73,247.

Of the new cases announced on Monday, four were identified through contact tracing linked to earlier known infections, ten passengers arriving at Larnaca and Paphos airports tested positive and 11 were diagnosed from private lab and hospital tests.

A further 32 new cases were discovered through the national rapid testing programme, of which 14 were in Nicosia with a test positivity rate of 0.13%, 12 in Limassol (0.17%), 3 in Paphos (0.10%), 2 in Famagusta district (0.07%) and one in Larnaca (0.02%).

All other tests had negative results, including 678 staff and residents at retirement homes, 473 workers in industrial zones, and 4,297 in schools.