Coronavirus: Three deaths, 3,473 new cases (Updated)

Three more people have died from coronavirus, including a 54-year-old woman, the health ministry announced on Thursday as 3,473 new infections were detected from 98,705 tests, a positivity rate of 3.52

Three more people have died from coronavirus, including a 54-year-old woman, the health ministry announced on Thursday as 3,473 new infections were detected from 98,705 tests, a positivity rate of 3.52 per cent.

The other two deaths concerned an 85-year-old woman and an 89-year-old man who both died on Thursday. The younger woman died on Wednesday.

There were 113 patients with the virus at the hospitals, of whom 22 were in serious condition, including eight who were intubated.

Of the hospitalised patients, 57.53 per cent were unvaccinated, the ministry said.

Another 21 patients who had contacted the virus but stopped being infectious continue to be intubated in ICUs due to Covid.

The new cases were detected from 3,868 PCR tests and 94,836 rapid tests.

Most cases, 2,071, were traced after 41,417 rapid tests carried out on a private initiative, while another 1,016 were detected as part of the free rapid testing offered by the health ministry.

Some 247 cases were detected from 1,449 PCR tests carried out privately, while 66 and 76 of the cases were detected during 343 and 663 PCR and rapid tests respectively, carried out for contact tracing purposes.