Coronavirus: Two men die, no underlying health conditions (Updated)

Two men have died, and another 126 people have tested positive for coronavirus, the health ministry said on Monday.

Neither of the two deceased, aged 69 and 60, had pre-existing conditions. Their deaths, the first in the ICU of Nicosia general hospital and the second in Nicosia general hospital, brings the total of deaths due to Covid-19 to 188, of whom 127 or 68 per cent men. The average age is 80.

There are currently 164 coronavirus patients in the island’s hospitals, 52 of them in serious condition. Of the 52 in critical condition, 30 are intubated, six are in the ICU but off the ventilator and 16 in high dependency units.

Today’s 126 cases were detected after 12,805 tests, both PCR (1406) and rapid antigen tests (11,399) giving a positivity rate of 0.96 per cent.

Of these, 25 were detected after 136 tests from contact tracing, nine from 298 tests through private initiative, 11 from 298 tests from hospital labs, two from 179 tests from referrals and 79 from rapid tests.

There were no positive cases from 492 tests among arriving passengers nor from three tests of quarantined passengers from the UK who took a second test, seven days after arrival.

As regards the positive cases from the rapid tests these were as follows: Limassol 35 (positivity rate 1.92 per cent), Larnaca six (positivity rate 0.66 per cent), Nicosia 22 (positivity rate 0.72 per cent), Paphos four (positivity rate 0.80 per cent) and Famagusta six (positivity rate 2.32 per cent). There were also four positive cases in the national guard, one in the public sector and one from industrial zones.