Coronavirus: Four deaths, 493 new cases

Four deaths from coronavirus and 493 new cases were reported on Monday out of 33,583 PCR and rapid tests, a positivity rate of 1.47 per cent.

The deaths were of a woman, aged 81, and three men, aged 64, 68 and 76.

The health ministry said 287 were in hospital with the virus of whom 88 are in serious condition. The ministry said 88.6 per cent were not vaccinated.

Of those in serious condition, 36 are intubated, seven are in ICUs but without a ventilator and 45 are in high dependency units.

Monday’s 493 recorded infections were identified via 7,786 PCR tests and 25,797 rapid tests.

The health ministry’s free screening programme has been significantly reduced and now only applies so certain groups, with its 16,112 rapid tests on Monday picking up 119 positives.

The 9,685 rapid tests taken privately identified 162 positives.

The breakdown for the remaining PCR tests is as follows: nine positives from 3,523 airport tests, 156 from the 3,706 taken privately, 45 from 305 carried out at the hospitals and two from the 221 tests taken following a GP referral.