No deaths from Covid were recorded in the past 24 hours, as new infections reached 437 after 66,797 tests, a positivity rate of 0.65 per cent, the health ministry said on Tuesday.

However, the number of hospitalised people with Covid has increased to 115 with 38 in serious or critical condition.

The virus has so far claimed the lives of 590 people in the Republic since the start of the pandemic in March last year. The number of recorded cases since then has reached 131,028.

Close to 61 per cent of hospitalised Covid patients were unvaccinated, the ministry said.

Three post-Covid patients remained intubated.

Of the 38 patients in serious or critical condition, 15 were intubated, four were being treated in an ICU but off a ventilator, and 19 were in high dependency units.

The ministry said 79 of the new infections were detected in 730 samples collected from the close contacts of previously confirmed cases.

Five concerned inbound travellers reported after 1,324 tests at the two airports.

Seventy-one cases were detected in 1,925 samples that were tested privately while state hospital labs reported five cases in 315 samples. One case concerned a GP referral. It was among 421 samples tested.

Turkish Cypriots reported two deaths and 314 cases on Tuesday, after 21,435 tests.

The number of deaths in the north since March 2020 is 98 while infections reached 26,900.