Four more deaths have been attributed to Covid-19 in the past week, with hospitalisations slightly up and new infections stable but with a high positivity rate, the health ministry said on Friday.

The four deaths concerned three men, two aged 85 and one aged 93, plus a women aged 92. Three of the four elderly people died on January 3 and one on December 30, taking total Covid deaths to 1,262 in the past three years.

There are 90 people hospitalised with Covid in Okypy hospitals, 12 of whom are in serious condition with five of those patients intubated. Three patients who are no longer infectious remain intubated in ICUs

During the past week, 61,914 tests were carried out, detecting 3,598 new infections and giving a positivity rate of 5.81 per cent.

Some 5,358 tests were carried out in nursing homes where 50 positive cases were detected.

Two cases were also detected in closed facilities from 1,381 tests.

A meeting is to be held on Tuesday between the health minister and the scientific team to review the latest data given the upsurge in cases in China and to see if any travel measures need to be imposed.

The specific mutated strain of the coronavirus presenting in China has been circulating in Cyprus since August 2022.

If measures are to be taken, these will concern PCR tests for travelers arriving from China and also the use of masks by all passengers arriving in Cyprus by air.