New coronavirus cases in Cyprus remained above 100 for the fourth consecutive day, dropping slightly to 169 on Friday, below the 175 the previous day and close to the 165 on Wednesday.
The health ministry said that there were no deaths attributed to Covid-19, making it the eleventh day in a row.
The ministry said in its daily Covid bulletin that the death toll since the pandemic started remained unchanged at 378 with an average age of 77. Of these, 14 were in June.
Reported infections skyrocketed earlier in the week, having remained below 100 for several weeks, as restrictions were lifted and the public ignored protocols.
Two clusters were reported on Thursday for the first time in several months, involving 23 people – one involving 17 teenagers who contracted the virus at a graduation party in Nicosia and another with six people from a wedding reception.
Friday’s hospitalisation rate improved with 41 people being treated for Covid-19 in state hospitals, down by six from Thursday, while the number of critical cases also retreated to 17, two less than the day before.
The total number of infections during the past 15 months is now at 74,343.
Some 42,660 PCR and antigen rapid tests were conducted on the day, which based on the 169 new cases of SARS-CoV-2, generated a benchmark ‘test positivity’ rate of 0.40%, below Thursday’s 0.51%, but still below the high-risk threshold of 1.00%.
Of the new cases, no new infections were identified through contact tracing, three passengers arriving at Larnaca and Paphos airports tested positive, while 21 new cases were diagnosed from private lab and hospital tests.
A further 145 new cases of SARS-CoV-2 were diagnosed through the national rapid testing programme, up from 127 the day before and 108 on Wednesday.
Once again, Famagusta district accounted for 40 new cases, but with the highest test positivity rate of 1.39%, above the high-risk threshold, followed by 41 in Nicosia (0.29%), 31 in Limassol (0.33%), 21 in Larnaca (0.38%), and three in Paphos with the lowest rate of 0.09%.
All 577 tests on staff and residents at retirement homes were negative, as well as all 341 samples taken from workers in industrial zones. Four cases were diagnosed from 936 tests among soldiers serving in the National Guard.
