Coronavirus: No new deaths, 131 people test positive on Thursday (Updated)

Authorities on Thursday announced no new fatalities from Covid-19, while testing tracked 131 new positives from a total of 56,507 samples.

As such, the death toll since March 2020 remains at 557.

In hospitals, 60 patients were being treated, of whom 22 in a serious condition. Of those in a serious condition, 12 were intubated, one treated in ICU but not on a ventilator, and nine in high-dependency units.

In addition, 11 post-Covid patients (no longer infectious) were in a serious condition and on ventilators in ICUs.

According to the health ministry, 56.67 per cent of those hospitalised did not have a record of vaccination.

The latest 131 positives came from 56,507 tests, of which 4,916 done with PCR. The overall positivity rate remained stable, at 0.23 per cent.

The cumulative number of positives since March 2020 comes to 120,992.

A breakdown of Thursday’s 131 positives: 10 from 245 samples via contact tracing; four from 2,571 samples taken at the airports; 39 from 1,783 samples taken via private initiative; six from 198 samples processed by the microbiology laboratories at general hospitals; 55 from 30,811 samples (antigen rapid tests) processed by private clinical labs and pharmacies; and 17 from 20,780 samples as part of the government’s free testing programme.

No positives turned up from 778 tests at care homes in the Nicosia and Limassol districts.

Five positives were tracked from 14,108 tests at primary and secondary schools, representing a positivity rate of 0.035 per cent.