COVID19: Six more deaths, daily cases inch up to 259

Cyprus reported six deaths in the weekly Covid bulletin on Friday, with new cases inching up to 1,814, some 40 more than the week before.

The Health Ministry said the latest victims in the week up to Thursday were two women, 50 and 62, and four men aged 75 to 92, raising the total for May to 23.

Two earlier deaths were attributed to Covid-19 by the health authorities, a 62 year old man in January last year and a 77 year old woman last July, raising the death toll since the pandemic started to 1,067.

April’s death toll was 75, just ahead of 67 in March. January remained the deadliest month on record with 101 deaths, followed by 96 in February, overtaking the previous record of 83 last August.

Some 362, or a third of all deaths occurred in the first five months of this year.

Hospitalisations increased slightly within a week from 30 to 35, critical cases dropped to one, with no intubated patients.

A further six patients are still considered post-Covid, four less than the week before, having recovered from the virus but remaining intubated and in a serious state.

Total SARS-CoV-2 infections since March 2020 rose to 491,777.

259 daily

The past week saw 1,814 new cases, down from 1,774 last week, with the average daily rate inching up from 252 to 259.

A total of 65,706 PCR and rapid antigen tests were conducted during the past week, 9,000 less than the week before, as restrictions were almost completely lifted as of June 1, abolishing the use of masks.

This measure remains only in critical healthcare facilities, such as hospitals and care homes.

With a continued drop in the number of tests and a mild increase in new cases, the benchmark ‘positivity rate’ rose to 2.76% from 2.38% from last week, and above the safe limit of 1%.

Of the new Covid cases, three were identified through contact tracing linked to earlier infections.

A further 17 tested positive in care homes, with three positive cases in restricted institutions and two soldiers serving in the National Guard.