Coronavirus: Three deaths, 602 new cases (updated)

Three people died from Covid, as 602 new infections were detected after 50,287 tests over the past 24 hours, with the positivity rate rising to 1.2 per cent, the health health ministry said on Wednesday.

A ministry statement said 232 patients were being treated in hospital for the virus, 63 in serious or critical condition.

The deaths concern two men, 80 and 85, and a woman 87, all with underlying health problems. None had been vaccinated, the ministry said.

The number of deaths from the virus since March 2020 has reached 277. The majority of fatalities concerned men, 183. The average age has dropped by a year to 78.

Of the 63 serious or critical patients, 32 were intubated, five were being treated in ICU without intubation, and 26 in high dependency units.

The number of new infections was 602, with the total number since March last year rising to 53,254.

Of the 50,287 tests, 4,163 were done with the PCR method.

The ministry said 120 new cases concerned close contacts of previously confirmed cases. They were detected in 888 samples.

Private labs reported 149 cases out of 2,171 samples while state hospital labs reported 20 cases among 406 samples.

Three infections were detected in 261 samples collected from people referred by GPs. Private labs also reported 19 cases from 698 rapid antigen tests.

Mobile units that are part of the state’s mass screening programme found 291 cases among 45,426 samples.

Limassol ranked first in cases on Wednesday with 92 among 9,709 samples, a positivity rate of 0.95 per cent. Nicosia followed with 70 cases in 11,898 tests, 0.59 per cent; Larnaca, 59 among 5,676, 1.04 per cent; Paphos, 19 in 3,414 tests, 0.56 per cent, and Famagusta 12 cases in 2,034 tests, 0.59 per cent.

An additional two cases were detected in 322 samples in care homes in Nicosia and three among 520 at the Ypsonas industrial estate in Limassol.