Seven deaths put down to Covid in last week

Seven people died from Covid and 1,934 cases were detected in the last week, the ministry of health said on Friday.

The new infections were detected from 66,251, giving a positivity rate of 2.92 per cent.

The seven deaths, between January 20 to 26, concerned five men, aged 63, 83, 98, 92 and 95 and two women, aged 86 and 82.

They bring the total number of deaths since the pandemic outbreak on the island to 1,287.

There are currently 69 Covid patients being treated in state hospitals, of whom 14 are in a serious condition, with eight intubated.

Most infections – 1,785 – were traced after 64,491 rapid tests, giving a 2.77 per cent positivity rate. The positivity rate for the 1,760 PCR tests carried out over the past seven days, was almost triple, at 8.47 per cent with 149 cases detected.

Sixty-six cases were detected at nursing homes and 12 at 24-hour facilities after 5,543 and 1,487 rapid tests respectively.