Cyprus reported no coronavirus deaths for the eleventh day this month on Tuesday, with the number of hospitalisations and new daily infections dropping mildly to 57 and 162, respectively.
The health ministry said in its daily Covid report that the death toll since the pandemic started remained unchanged at 570, of whom 16 died in October.
After a record 80 deaths in August, the number dropped to 40 in September, with ten days of no Covid-related deaths.
Of the 57 patients admitted to state hospitals for treatment, two fewer than the day before, 18 remain in serious condition, two less than the previous day.
Meanwhile, six patients remain intubated, one less from the previous day and 63% of hospital patients are reported as unvaccinated.
Another three patients are still considered post-Covid, having recovered from the virus, but remain intubated and in a serious state.
The total number of all SARS-CoV-2 infections since March 2020 rose to 123,708.
The number of PCR and antigen rapid tests conducted during the past 24 hours dropped to 51,892, nearly 9,000 less than Tuesday.
15,000 tests in schools
Some 12,063 tests were conducted in high schools, of whom 14 were positive. Of these, 11 were in Limassol, while only one of the 3,050 tests in primary schools was positive.
With a drop in the number of tests and infections at 162, down 27 from Monday, the benchmark ‘test positivity’ rose remained unchanged at 0.31%, well within the high-risk threshold of 1%.
Of the new cases, 27 were identified through contact tracing linked to earlier infections, nine were passengers arriving at Larnaca and Paphos airports, and 30 were diagnosed from private initiative and hospital tests.
A further 58 cases were identified from private rapid tests at labs and pharmacies, and 38 were positive from the free national testing programme, available only to those vaccinated or recovered from earlier infections.
All 964 tests in retirement homes were negative for Covid-19, as well as 127 random rapid tests on passengers arriving at Larnaca and Paphos airports, 17 tests of guests staying in hotels, 176 in restricted institutions and 18 in special schools.
