Coronavirus: no deaths, 76 people test positive on Friday (updated)

No deaths from Covid were announced on Friday, as 76 new infections were recorded following 41,891 tests, a positivity rate of 0.18 per cent.

According to the health ministry, 45 people were being treated for Covid in hospital, 18 in serious or critical condition.

Since the start of the pandemic in March 2020, 378 people have died from the virus while the number of recorded cases has reached 73,520.

Of the 18 patients in serious or critical condition, 10 are intubated, one is treated in the ICU without intubation and seven in high dependency units.

The ministry said 6,844 PCR and 35,047 rapid antigen tests were carried out in the past 24 hours.

Of the 76 new cases, 13 concerned close contacts of previously confirmed cases. They were detected among 293 samples.

Twelve cases were among 3,912 samples tested at the two airports, the ministry said. Eight cases were detected in 2,374 samples tested privately and two in 205 samples tested by state hospital labs.

One infection was among 441 samples tested by private labs and pharmacies using antigen tests.

Forty cases were detected after 34,606 tests conducted as part of the government’s mass screening programme.

In the north, Turkish Cypriots reported one death and 25 new infections after 9,202 tests.

The number of deaths from Covid has reached 35 while cases since March last year stood at 7,720.