Cyprus detected 3,853 new coronavirus infections from 70,518 tests in the past seven days, a positivity rate of 5.47 per cent, the health ministry’s weekly report showed on Friday.

Over the last week, spanning from December 2 to 8, a 93-year-old man died from coronavirus, while four more deaths from earlier this year and last year were attributed to the virus. These concerned a 92-year-old man who died on November 30, two men, aged 64 and 75 and a 94-year-old woman who died in October in 2021.

The new fatalities raised the total number of deaths since the pandemic outbreak on the island at 1,242.

Meanwhile, there were 94 people with Covid-19 treated in state hospitals, 11 of whom were in serious condition and three intubated.

Amidst recent concerns over an increase in infections in nursing homes and 24/7 facilities, some 76 and three cases were detected there respectively. Most infections – 3,664 – were traced after 69,611 rapid tests resulting in a 5.34 per cent positivity rate. The positivity rate for the 1,907 PCR tests carried out over the past seven days, was almost double, at 9.96 per cent with 190 cases detected.