COVID19: Two deaths as cases lower at 1,414

Cyprus reported two coronavirus deaths on Wednesday, with new infections dipping further to 1,414 cases, while hospitalisations dropped for the second day in a row to 183.

The Health Ministry said in its Covid bulletin that the latest victims were two women, 82 and 83, raising the April death toll to 30 and 984 to date.

More than a quarter of all deaths occurred in the first three months of this year.

March ended with 65 coronavirus deaths, while January was the deadliest month on record with 101, followed by 92 in February, overtaking the previous record of 83 last August.

The total number of patients admitted in Covid wards in state hospitals decreased further from 188 to 183. Of these, 29 were critical, two less than the day before.

Intubated patients increased to seven, while 48% of hospitalised COVID-19 patients were reported as unvaccinated.

A further 11 patients are still considered post-Covid, three less than the previous day, having recovered from the virus, but remain intubated and in a serious state.

Total SARS-CoV-2 infections since March 2020 rose to 462,783.

A total of 54,299 PCR and antigen rapid tests were conducted during the last 24 hours, about 12,000 less than the day before, with 12,000 tests mainly in high schools.

Of the 9,356 tests in secondary schools, 26 were positive, with no tests in primary schools. A further 20new infections were identified from the “test to stay” programme for students and teachers, which also includes kindergartens, and two new cases in special schools.

With a decrease in tests, as well as new cases from 1,692 to 1,414, the benchmark ‘positivity rate’ rose marginally from 2.53% to 2.60%, down from the record 7.27% two weeks ago and more than double the safe limit of 1%.

Of the new infections, seven were identified through contact tracing linked to earlier infections.

A further 11 tested positive in care homes, while three tested positive in restricted institutions.