Coronavirus: Three deaths, 598 new cases recorded on Tuesday (updated)

The health ministry announced three deaths and 598 cases of Covid-19 on Tuesday.

The deaths concerned two men aged 77 and 69, and a woman aged 86. The woman passed away on Sunday at Oasis nursing home in Larnaca, while the two men died on Monday at Famagusta and Nicosia hospitals respectively.

The death toll now stands at 429, of whom 282 were men and 147 women.

There are 289 people being treated for coronavirus in hospitals, 98 of whom are in serious condition. Of the 98 patients, 40 are intubated, nine are in ICU without a ventilator and 49 in a high dependency unit. Of all patients, 89.28 per cent have not had even one vaccine dose.

A total of 61,589 PCR and rapid antigen tests were carried out on Tuesday, with a positivity rate of 0.97 per cent.

Of the 61,589 tests, 9,204 were PCR and 52,385 rapid tests.

The majority, 332, of the 598 cases came from rapid tests performed at private labs and pharmacies, with 123 more cases found through rapid testing performed at health ministry testing sites.

Eighty-six cases came from 5,119 samples taken through private initiative, while 331 samples taken through contacts of already confirmed cases yielded 42 positives.

Seven positives came from 326 samples processed by hospital labs, while 338 samples taken through GP referrals turned up three positives.

In addition, 3,090 samples were taken at airports where five positives were found.

The total number of positives to date is 103,314.