COVID19: New cases drop, one death, patients increase

Cyprus recorded a drop in new coronavirus cases to 336, down from 407 the previous day, but close to the over-300 infections reported daily throughout the week, culminating with 364 on Friday.

The total of all infections to date is 42,218.

The health ministry said that one person died of COVID-19 and the number hospital admissions had risen from 201 on Saturday to 212, testing the 400-bed capacity of the Covid wards in the national health system.

Of these, 45 were critical, one less than the day before, but the rate of admissions continued to overtake the discharges.

A 95-year-old woman died at Limassol General hospital, raising the death toll since the pandemic started to 243.

The health ministry said in its daily bulletin that 47,306 PCR and antigen rapid tests were conducted on Sunday, diagnosing the 336 new cases of SARS-CoV-2.

This resulted in a national positivity rate of 0.71%, while the figure for COVID hotspot Limassol rose from 0.80% on Saturday to 0.88%.

Limassol also accounts for the second biggest number of hospital admissions, at 65, just below the 69 at the national Covid-reference clinic at Famagusta General hospital. There were 23 patients in Nicosia, 13 in Larnaca and 7 at the Makarios maternity hospital in Nicosia.

No new admissions were reported at the Covid ward of Paphos General hospital which opened on Saturday.

Of the new cases diagnosed on Sunday, 87 were identified through contact tracing linked to earlier infections, 40 resulted from tests at private clinics and state hospitals, and 209 were positive cases from among the 45,640 rapid tests, part of the free national testing programme for workers, teachers and students.

Limassol continued to lead the pack with 115 positive test results, followed by Nicosia (49), Larnaca (19), Paphos (18) and Famagusta with 6.