Coronavirus: Two deaths, 635 people test positive on Thursday (Updated)

Authorities on Thursday announced two more fatalities from Covid-19, while testing detected 635 new positives to the coronavirus.

The two deaths were both women – one aged 84, who passed away on Thursday at Nicosia general hospital’s ICU; and the other aged 86, who had died in a nursing home on December 20, 2020.

On the 86-year-old, the health ministry said the fatality was discovered as part of regular checks carried out on death records registered for 2020.

That brings the Covid-19 death toll to 607 – of whom 389 men and 218 women. The average age of the deceased is 75.8 years.

Hospitals meanwhile were treating 139 patients, of whom 44 were in a serious condition; of the 44, 15 were intubated, four in ICU not off the ventilator, and 25 in high-dependency units.

In addition, five post-Covid patients (no longer infectious) continued to be intubated in ICU.

The ministry reported that 76.65 per cent of patients did not have a record of vaccination.

The latest 635 positives came from 87,780 tests (of which 11,498 done with PCR), for a positivity rate of 0.72%.

A breakdown of the positives: 114 from 1,234 samples through contact tracing; 11 from 3,879 samples taken at the airports; 100 from 6,014 samples taken by private initiative; seven from 297 samples processed by microbiology laboratories at the general hospitals; 274 from 44,751 samples processed by private clinical labs and pharmacies; 128 from 31,531 samples (antigen rapid tests) through the government’s free screening programme; and one from 74 samples as part of doctors’ referrals.

No positives came up from tests at nursing homes in Nicosia, Limassol and Larnaca districts. And 21,277 tests at primary and secondary schools found 33 positives.