Coronavirus: Eleven deaths, 2,282 people test positive on Thursday (Updated)

The health ministry on Thursday announced 11 deaths from Covid-19 – only three of which occurring on the day – while 2,282 more people tested positive for the coronavirus.

The latest announced fatalities were: two women aged 65 and 79, and a man aged 87, who passed away on Thursday; a woman aged 65 who died on January 1; a man aged 71, who died on January 8; a man aged 70, died on January 10; a man aged 70, who died on January 11; a woman aged 85, died on January 18; and two men (aged 63 and 73) and a woman aged 83 who died on January 19.

That brings the death toll to 700; the average age of the deceased is 76 years.

Hospitals were treating 244 patients, of whom 81 were in a serious condition. Of those classed as serious, 34 were intubated, three in ICU but not on a ventilator, and 44 in high-dependency units.

In addition, 18 post-Covid patients continued to be intubated in ICU.

The ministry reported that 72.55 per cent of those in hospital did not have a record of vaccination.

Thursday’s 2,282 positives came from a total of 108,670 tests, giving a positivity rate of 2.1 per cent.

A breakdown of the latest positives: 70 from 821 samples detected via contact tracing; 50 from 2,321 samples taken at the airports; 307 from 2,980 samples taken by private initiative; 29 from 317 samples processed by laboratories at the general hospitals; 1,144 from 49,047 samples processed by private clinical labs and pharmacies; 678 from 53,076 samples via the government’s free screening programme; and four from 107 samples as part of doctors’ referrals.

Notably, tests at nursing homes tracked 16 positives in Nicosia district, and two positives in Limassol district.