Coronavirus: two deaths, 164 new cases announced on Thursday (Updated)

The health ministry announced two deaths from Covid-19 on Thursday and 164 new cases from 11,170 PCR and rapid tests.

The positivity rate stood at 1.47 per cent. Total positives since March number 29,636.

The deaths concerned two men one aged 77 and the other aged 84, both with underlying conditions. One died at Nicosia hospital ICU and the other at Larnaca hospital, bringing the total number of deaths to 178, of which 119 were men. The average age of death is 80.

There are 184 Covid patients in hospitals of which 58 are in serious condition, and 30 of these are intubated.

Of the 11,170 tests, 1,739 were PCR and 9,431 the antigen rapid test method.

Of the total 164 positive cases, 65 came through rapid testing.

From the PCR process, 56 cases came from 314 samples taken through contact tracing, one case came from 135 samples taken at airports,  36 cases from 877 samples taken through private initiative, four cases from 278 samples processed at hospital labs, and two cases came through the immigrant testing programme

From 133 GP referrals, no cases were detected.