Coronavirus: Two deaths, 252 new cases (updated)

The health ministry announced two deaths from Covid-19 on Tuesday while 252 people tested positive after 10,959 tests.

The two deaths relate to a 75-year-old and 64-year-old man, who both had underlying health conditions and were being cared for in the ICU at Nicosia general hospital.

The total number of deaths from the coronavirus has risen to 45. This is 29 men (64 per cent) and 16 women (36 per cent), with an average age of 75.

As for the tests, out of the total number of 10,959, PCR tests accounted for 5,424 which identified 188 positive results.

The contact tracing programme’s 695 tests identified 116 positive results while tests done via private initiative amounted to 1,766 and totalled 41 positive results.

Sixty four of the new cases relate to people whose rapid test over the last couple of days was confirmed by a PCR test.

Three of the cases were found among tests on care and other homes, two residents at the Peristerona old people’s home and one at the special needs centre in Liopetri.

Out of 1,829 tests carried out one workers moving to and from Limassol and Paphos 16 positive cases were found, while 90 tests in schools found two cases.

Meanwhile 5,535 rapid antigen tests identified 57 positive results, the majority of which were in Nicosia.

From the 930 rapid tests in Limassol there were 10 positive results, 893 tests in Larnaca yielded 12 positives, Famagusta’s 450 tests found 12 positives, Nicosia’s 1,694 tests identified 21 positives and finally just two positive results originated from 1,568 tests in the National Guard.

There are currently 101 Covid-19 patients being treated in the hospitals, with the majority – 68 – at the Famagusta referral hospital, four of whom are in the high dependency unit.

At the Nicosia general hospital there are 22 patients, 11 of whom are in ICU. Two of the ICU patients are not on ventilators. In Limassol general hospital there are 11 patients in the Covid-19 ward.

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