COVID19: No deaths, daily cases climb again

Cyprus reported no deaths in the weekly Covid bulletin on Friday, with new cases inching up to 2,207, some 393 more than the week before.

The Health Ministry updated its records since the pandemic started with one more victim attributed to Covid-19 dating back to March 2021.

The death toll for May remained unchanged at 23.

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 dropped slightly within a week from 35 to 31, critical cases increased to four, with two intubated patients.

A further seven patients are still considered post-Covid, one more 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 493,984.

315 daily

The past week saw 2,207 new cases, up from 1,814 last week, with the average daily rate rising from 259 to 315.

A total of 58,585 PCR and rapid antigen tests were conducted during the past week, 7,000 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, where a negative rapid test is required to enter.

With a drop in the number of tests and an increase in new cases, the benchmark ‘positivity rate’ rose to 3.77% from 2.76% 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 five tested positive in restricted institutions, six soldiers serving in the National Guard and no new cases in care homes.