Coronavirus: Two deaths, 5,024 new infections (Updated)

Two deaths and 5,024 new infections of coronavirus were announced by the health ministry on Monday.

The deaths were two men aged 84 and 62. The 84-year-old died at the Limassol general hospital on Sunday while the younger man died at the ICU of Nicosia general hospital on Monday.

Some 201 are in hospital with the virus, 75 of whom are in serious condition including 32 who are intubated.

The health ministry said 81.1 per cent of those in hospital are unvaccinated.

The new cases, detected from 164,358 PCR and rapid tests, translate to a positivity rate of 3.06 per cent. This brings the total number of cases to 177,721 since the pandemic began. There have been 641 deaths from the virus.

Regarding Monday’s tests, 150,518 were rapid tests, the remaining 13,840 were PCR.

Most new infections, 3,169, were detected following 112,903 tests in private labs and pharmacies. Another 1,017 cases were traced after 37,615 tests at the health ministry’s mobile testing sites.

Some 434 people tested positive following a test after a private initiative, 193 were detected during testing at the airports and 141 through contact tracing. The remaining 69 concerned samples at the state laboratories while one person was detected with the virus following a GP referral.

Four of the new cases concerned 24/7 facilities such as nursing homes.

Meanwhile, the north recorded 410 coronavirus cases after 35,585 tests.