COVID19: One death as new cases still high

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Cyprus reported the first coronavirus death this month, as cases dropped slightly to 249 on Tuesday, with health officials concerned over the uptick in new cases that had been kept at near-100 levels daily throughout most of October.

Health Minister Michalis Hadjipantelas said authorities are anxious over a recent spike in daily COVID-19 cases, with scientists looking into the causes behind the uptick.

Health authorities are concerned over a rise in infections after 280 were reported on Monday, the highest level since September.

Health officials said that although there is an increase in new cases among adults, younger school children were not adhering to protocols, while recent holiday breaks saw many heading to Greece where infection rates have reached record levels.

The health ministry said in its daily Covid report that a 64 year old man was the latest victim of the virus, raising the death toll since the pandemic started to 575.

The number of hospitalisations rose to 70 from 68, and new daily cases dropped slightly to 249 from Monday’s 280.

Of the patients admitted to state hospitals for treatment, 26 remain serious, one more from the previous day.

Meanwhile, intubated patients dropped to five, and 60% of hospital patients were reported as unvaccinated.

Another five 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 124,973.

The number of PCR and antigen rapid tests conducted during the past 24 dropped to 52,138, about 13,000 less than the day before, including about 14,500 in schools.

 

13 students in Limassol

Of the 12,123 tests in high schools, 17 had the virus, including 13 from Limassol, while only of the 2,470 tests in primary schools tested positive.

With a drop in the number of tests and infections dropping mildly to 249, 31 less than Monday, the benchmark ‘test positivity’ rate rose to 0.49% from 0.42%, within the high-risk threshold of 1%.

Of the new cases, 37 were identified through contact tracing linked to earlier infections, six were passengers arriving at Larnaca and Paphos airports, and 42 were diagnosed from private initiative and hospital tests.

A further 121 cases were identified from private rapid tests at labs and pharmacies, and 43 were positive from the free national testing programme, available only to those vaccinated or recovered from earlier infections.

All of the 1,099 tests in retirement homes were negative, while one tested positive among 138 samples taken from restricted institutions.