Coronavirus: Four deaths, 256 new infections announced on Wednesday (updated)

Four people died from Covid-19, as 256 new infections were detected after 44,929 tests, the health ministry said on Wednesday.

Forty-nine people were being treated in hospital in serious or critical condition.

The number of deaths from the virus since March 2020 has reached 507 while recorded cases stand at 114,131.

The deaths concern two men aged 41 and 75, and two women, 83 and 78.

The virus has so far claimed the lives of 327 men and 180 women. The average age is 76.4.

Of the 49 people in serious or critical condition on Wednesday, 18 were intubated, five were being treated in the ICU but were not on a ventilator, and 26 were in high dependency units.

Twenty-four cases detected in the past 24 hours concerned close contacts of previously confirmed infections. They were detected in 287 samples.

Six cases were detected in 2,408 samples belonging to inbound passengers tested at the two airports and 53 cases were among 2,552 samples tested privately.

An additional 14 infections were among 196 samples tested by state hospital labs.

Private labs and pharmacies reported 105 infections in 25,729 samples tested using rapid antigen tests.

Units participating in the state screening programme reported 54 cases after 13,621 tests.

Turkish Cypriots reported one death and 143 new infections on Wednesday.

The north has so far recorded 63 Covid deaths and 16,566 cases since March last year.