The health ministry on Saturday announced that one person had died of Covid and that 268 had tested positive from 16,231 PCR and rapid tests, a positivity rate of 1.65 per cent.

Case numbers are down due to less testing because of the Christmas break.

The latest death concerned a man aged 76 who died at Nicosia hospital. This brings the total deaths since March 2020 to 628.

There are 157 people in hospitals of whom 63 are in serious condition. Of these 24 are intubated.

The ministry said that 75.65 per cent of patients had no history of getting the Covid injection.

Of the 16,231 diagnoses on Saturday, 7,073 were PCR and 9,158 rapid tests detecting 268 positives as follows:

  • 53 from 5,017 samples taken at airports.
  • 82 from 1,897 samples taken through private initiative.
  • 7 from 159 samples tested at hospital labs
  • 126 from 9,158 tests at private clinical laboratories and pharmacies.

The ministry’s free testing programme did not operate on Saturday.