Coronavirus: 14-day diagnosis rate jumps 39 per cent

There has been a 39 per cent increase in the 14-day cumulative diagnosis rate in covid cases, with Paphos and Famagusta recording the biggest rise, the health ministry said on Friday.

The continuous increasing trend in daily coronavirus cases has led to a small rise in hospitalisations, it added.

According to the national epidemiological report compiled by the health ministry’s advisory team, a total of 2,528 cases were detected between October 26 and November 8 after 60,893 PCR and 680,508 rapid antigen tests.

Almost 28 per cent of the new cases concerned children and teenagers from 10 to 19 years bringing the median age of the cases to 35 years, the report said.

Despite the increase in cases, the country remains in the red category based on the ECDC categorisation of countries in accordance with epidemiological data.

The 14-day cumulative diagnosis rate is 284.7 per 100,000 people, an approximate 39 per cent increase in relation to the previous two weeks when the rate was at 204.4 per 100,000 residents. Cyprus will be listed in the dark red category if the cumulative rate surpasses 500 per 100,000 population.

Most cases, 32.4 per cent, were reported in Nicosia, while 28.3 per cent were detected in Limassol, followed by 16.3 per cent in Paphos, 15.4 per cent in Larnaca and 7.5 per cent in Famagusta. Four cases were reported either in the British bases or had residency abroad.

Paphos and Famagusta recorded the highest cumulative rate increase during the last 14 days, the ministry said.

The report also looks at hospitalisations, saying that as of November 10, some 75 people were treated for coronavirus at state hospitals, of them 43 were male.

Seven people were in the ICU with a median age of 56 years.

Regarding deaths, the report showed that some 587 people died from Covid since the beginning of the pandemic and November 10, with 64 per cent being men.

One death concerned a person aged between 25 and 29 and another aged 30 to 34, while four people aged 35 to 39 have also died form coronavirus. The age group with the highest number of deaths was 80 to 84 with 104 fatalities.