The health ministry announced 361 new cases of Covid-19 and no deaths on Friday.

As there were no deaths, the total death toll remains 248, of whom 165 were men and 83 women with an average age of 79.

There are 196 people in hospitals, 53 of whom are in serious condition. Of the 53 patients who are critical, 25 are intubated, six are in ICU and 22 in the High Dependency Unit.

A total of 48,484 tests were carried out by means of PCR and rapid tests with 361 new cases, and a positivity rate of 0.74 per cent.

The total number of positives to date is 43,971.

Of the 48,484 tests, 3,837 were PCR and 44,647 rapid tests. The majority, 135 of the 361 positives came from 831 samples taken through contact tracing, while 134 came through rapid testing and 49 cases from 1,104 samples taken through private initiative.

Twenty-four samples taken through GP referrals yielded no positives, while 29 cases came from 280 samples processed by hospital labs.

In addition, 1,598 samples were taken at airports with three positives.

Thirty cases were detected in Nicosia, 70 in Limassol, 11 in Larnaca, three in Paphos and ten in Famagusta.