Coronavirus: Five deaths, 162 new cases (Updated)

Five deaths and 162 new cases of the coronavirus were announced on Monday, raising the total number of Covid deaths since the outbreak to 175.

The health ministry said 199 people were in hospital, of whom 55 are in serious condition.

The five deaths were three men aged 91, 89 and 79 and two women aged 92 and 88. They all had underlying health conditions.

The 162 new cases were identified out of a total 9,384 tests. PCR tests amounted to 1,663 and the rapid tests totalled 7,721.

The rapid tests identified 80 positives, contact tracing found 43 (out of 251 tests), a further 18 resulted from private tests, 13 were from the labs at the general hospitals and six were from travellers at the airports (from 577 tests).

Just one positive test was identified out of 135 taken on doctors’ referrals, and one at the quarantine hotels for travellers arriving from Britain (19 tests).

Limassol continues to have a stubbornly high positivity rate (2.03 per cent) despite months of restrictions in place. Famagusta’s positivity rate was at 2.07 per cent as per Monday’s results.

Larnaca’s was recorded at 1.73 per cent, followed by Nicosia at 0.86 per cent and Paphos at 0.62 per cent.