More than half of Cyprus’ coronavirus-related deaths occurred in December, the health ministry said on Wednesday in its latest report on the pandemic.
It said that 76 people with Covid-19 have died from December 1 to 29, for 68 of whom coronavirus was the cause of death. Another eight people with coronavirus died of other causes, it said.
According to the report, covering the period of March to December 29, a total of 144 deaths of people diagnosed with coronavirus have been reported in Cyprus, of whom 66 per cent or 95 men and the remaining 34 per cent, or 49, women.
Of the 144 deaths, 117 or 81 per cent were attributed to Covid-19 and of these 65 per cent (76) were men and the remaining 35 per cent (41) women.
The biggest frequency of deaths occurred among the 80 to 84 year old age group which accounted for 41 deaths or 28 per cent.
Care home residents accounted for 36 deaths of whom 28 died in hospital. Of the 36 deceased care home residents, 18 were residents of Nicosia, 17 of Limassol and one of Larnaca.
December recorded the biggest number of deaths of individuals who tested positive for coronavirus with a total of 76 or 53 per cent of the total. December’s deaths were 117 per cent higher than those in November (35 or 24 per cent of the total).
The single deadliest week was the 49th week of the year with 21 deaths, which represents 15 per cent of the total number.
More than nine out of ten (132 people or a 92 per cent) died in hospital, eight died in a care home and four died at home.
Of the 76 deaths reported in December – 37 were permanent residents of Nicosia and 25 of Limassol.
Also, more than 4,000 coronavirus cases have been recorded in Cyprus within the last two weeks, according to the latest national surveillance report released on Wednesday.
The report, prepared by the health ministry’s epidemiological surveillance unit, concerns the period between December 14 and 27.
During this period, 4,061 cases were recorded among 65,099 molecular tests. The median age of these cases was 39 years. The 14-day cumulative diagnosis rate is 457.3 per 100,000 population.
By age group, cases included 752 infants, children and adolescents aged up to 19 years-old, 2,529 adults between 20 and 59 years, 774 persons aged 60 and older. There was no information about the age of six people.
Almost one third of people diagnosed with coronavirus (1,235) during this period reported no symptoms at diagnosis while the rest reported at least one symptom. More than one in four reported at least one comorbidity.
Among all cases recorded during this period, 1,819 were reported in the Nicosia district, 1,057 in Larnaca, 665 in Limassol, 216 in Paphos and 208 in the Famagusta district. Another 96 cases were reported either in the British bases or had a residence abroad, or information was not available.
Among cases, 117 Covid-19 associated deaths were reported in Cyprus until December 29 with the case fatality risk reaching 0.6 per cent. The Covid-19 associated mortality is 13.2 per 100,000 population. The median time from date of sampling to death (due to Covid-19) was 12 days, the report said.
