Coronavirus: Two deaths, 2,587 people test positive on Friday (Updated)

The health ministry announced that two people had died of Covid-19 and that 2,587 had tested positive from 110,201 PCR and rapid tests, a positivity rate of 2.35 per cent.

The deaths concerned two men aged 93 and 74, raising the total number of deaths attributed to Covid-19 to 726, with an average age of 76.2.

There are 208 people in hospitals of whom 68 are in serious condition. Of these, 30 are intubated.

The ministry said that the percentage of unvaccinated patients was 76.4 per cent.

The 110,201 tests were comprised of 5,748 PCR tests and 104,453 rapid tests, which picked up the 2,587 infections at a rate of 2.35 per cent.

The PCR tests picked up 59 infections from 564 contact tracing tests, 47 from 2,189 airport tests, 302 from 2,482 taken privately and 36 from 356 hospital tests.

The 49,512 rapid tests taken privately picked up 1,371 infections, while the government’s screening programme carried out 54,941 rapid tests and identified a further 769 infections.

The test to stay programme identified 30 positives from its 3,357 checks.

The north announced 579 Covid-19 infections on Friday following 18,726, raising the total reported cases to 53,027. Deaths attributed to Covid-19 remain at 167.