Coronavirus: Three deaths, 2,930 new cases

Three deaths from coronavirus and 2,930 new cases were reported on Monday out of 134,415 PCR and rapid tests, a positivity rate of 2.18 per cent.

The deaths concerned an 85-year-old woman who died on Sunday, a second woman aged 86, and a man, aged 85, who both died on Monday.

The ministry said there are 177 people in hospital with the virus of whom 40 are in serious condition, including 12 who are intubated.

Of those, 69.5 per cent are unvaccinated, the announcement said.

It added that 31 patients who stopped being infectious continue to be intubated in ICUs due to coronavirus.

According to the data announced by the ministry, 8,617 PCR tests were carried out on Monday, of which 335 cases were detected.

The remaining 125,798 tests concerned rapid antigen testing, during which 2,595 infections were reported.

The highest number of tests, 63,773 was carried out in private labs and pharmacies where 1,737 cases were detected, followed by 62,025 tests at the health ministry’s free rapid testing sites where 858 cases were recorded.

Another 1,952 PCR tests were carried out following a private initiative, during which 219 people tested positive.

For contact tracing purposes, 144 PCR tests were carried out and nine cases were detected, while 79 cases were traced after 979 rapid tests.

The new cases included 13 found after 1,176 rapid tests in care homes.

The ministry reiterated that data released are indicative and may be updated as part of the bimonthly national report prepared by the ministry’s epidemiological team.

The northern part of the island recorded 343 coronavirus cases from 25,038 tests.