Coronavirus: Three deaths, 155 new infections announced on Saturday (updated)

Three people have died from Covid-19 in the past 24 hours and 155 new infections were detected, after 45,597 tests, the health ministry said on Saturday.

Fifty-eight people were being treated in hospital, 21 in serious or critical condition.

Just over 63 per cent of hospitalised patients were unvaccinated.

The deaths concern three men aged 73, 45, and 81.

The number of lives claimed by the virus is 574– 366 men — while total recorded cases since March 2020 reached 124,332.

The average age of the deceased is 76.1.

Five post-Covid patients remain intubated in an ICU.

Of the hospitalised patients, seven were intubated, two were being treated in an ICU but were off the ventilator, and 12 were in high dependency units.

Of the 155 new cases, eight were close contacts of previously confirmed cases detected among 57 samples.

Three cases were detected after 1,778 tests at the two airports, and 40 were among 1,646 samples tested privately.

State hospital labs reported two new cases in 194 samples.

Pharmacies and private labs reported 59 infections after 32,724 rapid antigen tests while units carrying out screenings for the state detected 43 cases in 10,191 tests.