Current Covid position

YESTERDAY
284 new cases
no deaths
67k tested

67 people being treated for coronavirus in hospitals, 22 of whom are in serious condition. Of the 22 patients, eight are intubated, one is in the ICU without a ventilator and 13 in the High Dependency Unit.

Of all patients, 65.68 per cent are unvaccinated.

A post-Covid patient who is no longer infectious is still intubated in the ICU.

4 cases detected from 1,665 samples taken at airports

YESTERDAY
266 new cases
no deaths
57k tested

Seventy-one people with Covid were being treated in hospital, 22 in serious or critical condition.

Around 63.40 per cent of hospitalised patients are not vaccinated.

The virus has so far claimed the lives of 576 people while the number of recorded infections in the Republic since March last year has reached 126,497.

One post-Covid patient remains intubated in the ICU.

Of the 22 patients in serious or critical condition, six are intubated, two are being treated in an ICU off a ventilator, and 14 in high dependency units.

Three cases were reported after 1,936 tests at the two airports

YESTERDAY
275 new cases
One death
51k tested
72 people in hospital with the virus, 24 of whom are in serious condition, including seven who are intubated. In total 65.2 per cent of hospitalised Covid-19 patients are not vaccinated.
4 cases detected coming through the airports

Sadly new cases steadily rising over the last week or so and yesterday stood at 475 new cases from almost 62k tests - despite no further deaths more people are being hospitalised

Meetings are to be help next week regarding the CovScan requirements and potential changes to restrictions

good news numbers dropped yesterday to 275 and today to 212 but hospitalisation are rising and currently sits at 105

Bad news
491 new cases recorded yesterday

but then there were over 83k tested thats the highest number of testings ive seen for a long long long time - and I wonder if it was anything to with the mandatory requirement of CovScan scanning of QR codes for entry to venues etc  that  forced the testing

Hospitalisations rose by one to 106.... fortunately no deaths recorded

My wife and I were stranded in the UK for most of 2021 and during that time we both received both doses of Covid vaccine (Astrozeneca). In October we went to Paphos General "drop-in" centre for our boosters. My wife is disabled and as she was in a wheelchair, she was grabbed and jabbed immediately with no document checks. So far so good. However, when I asked for my jab I was told that because my first two jabs were in the UK I would need to apply for a Cyprus Safepass and I was handed a form (in Greek). The form turned out to be straightforward but required "Apostling" (a form of certification) which I eventually managed to do (5 euros from a backstreet Paphos house).
I submitted the form via Dr Theodora in Peyia and waited. Eventually the doctor received an email notice stating that the form would not be processed as the British NHS Pass with it's QR code was acceptable at all venues (mostly true). However, Paphos hospital drop-in centre do NOT use a scanner and will NOT accept the NHS Pass. After 5 failed visits I still await a Covid booster. The local doctor says her hands are tied as the whole Covid immunisation scheme is managed centrally and she has no involvement.
I can't believe I'm the only person in this predicament?
I should add that I am 74 years old and have had a triple heart by-pass. I am surely in a vulnerable group and with rising cases I become increasingly concerned.
Grateful for any help.

wow what a nightmare and i think you are right there is no way you can be the only one in this position.

I ve no idea what your next avenue is or even could be...

Other than trying again at the hospital until you get your booster maybe someone else will view it differently or maybe not do a document check

yesterday
437 new cases from 67k tests, no deaths
hospitalisations up to 115 (over 60% not vacced)

5 cases detected coming through the airports

Thanks Toon but all is now sorted. Following a suggestion from a neighbour, I tried my luck at Polis hospital.
Success.
They were very thorough and checked my (now considerable) paperwork but with a little lower lip trembling and spaniel eyes they relented and gave me the jab.
Hoorah.

well done lad....

Latest restrictions

The government on Wednesday (today 24th Nov 2021)  announced new measures to fight the Covid surge, including mask mandates for children aged six and above and a SafePass for those between six and 11.

Unvaccinated individuals will soon be shut out of hospitality venues, sports events, and other forms of entertainment.

From December 12 onwards, no SafePass will be valid seven months after the second dose of a Covid vaccine without the holder having received a booster. To date, 84,690 people have received a booster shot.

“We once more stress that vaccination is our only weapon in returning to normality,” Health Minister Michalis Hadjipantelas said after a cabinet meeting. “We are certain that our fellow citizens will respond.”

The minister expressed hope that new antiviral drugs expected in Cyprus at the end of December would help in the fight against the pandemic in combination with the vaccines.

In the meantime, the cabinet decided a set of fresh mitigating measures in a bid to stop the surge in cases and avoid a fifth wave.

Hadjipantelas said the mask mandate has been extended to children aged six and above starting November 29. Children between six and 11 will also need SafePasses. The SafePass would need either a certificate of recovery from the virus in the past six months, or a negative test not older than seven days.

Also starting November 29, primary school children will be tested on a weekly basis until the Christmas break.

Christmas events at schools have to be suspended, the minister said. Christmas events organised by other bodies elsewhere will need permission from the health ministry.

From December 15, people aged 12 and above who have not received at least one shot of a Covid vaccine will be banned from hospitality venues, cinemas, theatres, and sports facilities, both indoor and outdoor.

A SafePass will also be mandatory for those between the ages of 14 and 64 starting November 29.

Starting December 1, adults over 18 who have not been vaccinated would need a negative PCR test not older than 72 hours or a 48-hour negative rapid test.

Τhe minister also announced the introduction of self-tests starting December 13, stressing however, that they will not be considered substitutes for the current testing system.

The cost of the self-tests will be subsidised by the government when it comes to vaccinated individuals while unvaccinated people would have to pay for them themselves.

Education Minister Prodromos Prodromou said the measures aimed at keeping schools open and avoid mass gatherings.

Speaking to the state broadcaster, Prodromou said the ministry would be sending schools details regarding the measures in the next few days.

The minister said children aged six and above would also have to display a negative test when attending extracurricular activities like afternoon tuition and sports.

As expected, the measures outrages hospitality venue proprietors who were already moaning about the need to scan SafePasses.

The association chairman Phanos Leventis said it would especially affect businesses that work with families.

“Knowing the very low vaccination rate at this age group (12), one can easily understand the scale of the loss that venues hosting families will incur.”

source https://cyprus-mail.com/2021/11/24/coro … cancelled/

new cases still rising

yesterday 613 cases 3 deaths
118 Covid-19 patients in hospitals as of Tuesday evening, 51 of whom are in serious or critical condition. Of those receiving treatment, 65.82 per cent are unvaccinated, the ministry said.
a record number of tests over 85k

do  you know how or where i can  get a booster jab as i  only  have 2 anti virus injections?

General hospital in Paphos or polis

i live in Paralmni  so i will try our general hospital.thank you or  speedy reply

Today 492 new cases
One death

There are 116 people being treated for coronavirus in hospitals, 47 of whom are in serious condition. Of the 47 patients, 17 are intubated, four are in the ICU without a ventilator and 26 in the High Dependency Unit.

Of all patients, 63.8 per cent are not vaccinated against Covid.

Three post-Covid patients who are no longer infectious are still intubated in the ICU.

A total of 84,456 PCR and rapid antigen tests were carried out today, with a positivity rate of 0.58 per cent.

19 cases detected coming through the airport s

Latest today

From Monday all passengers aged 12 and over arriving in the Republic by plane or ship will have to undergo a PCR test, regardless of whether they are vaccinated or not, it was announced on Thursday.

Cabinet approved a proposal by Transport Minister Yiannis Karousos on mandatory PCR tests by all persons aged 12 and over upon arrival in the Republic of Cyprus, by air or by sea, regardless of the country of departure. The cost of the test will be paid by the passengers. This measure will be in place until January 10.

Passengers entering the Republic from ports for a short visit must have a negative PCR certificate not older than 72 hours. In addition, upon arrival, they will be required to undergo a rapid antigen test, at the expense of the Republic of Cyprus.

Presenting the proposal, Karousos pointed out the need for temporary measures at the entry points of the Republic, due to the detection of the new Omicron mutation which has been recorded in some African and European countries.

More measures are expected to be announced shortly.

Just announced All arrivals in Cyprus at ports and airports there is a compulsory €15 PCR test as from Monday 6 th dec

Today

The health ministry announced that there were no new deaths from Covid-19 but that 538 people had tested positive from 88,694 PCR and rapid tests, a positivity rate of 0.61 per cent.

There are 112 people in hospitals of whom 46 are in serious condition. Of these, 18 are intubated.

The ministry said that the percentage of unvaccinated patients was 66 per cent.

14 cases detected coming through the airport s

Yesterday
594 infections (6 coming thru airports)
One death
111 in hospital
88k tested

Today

The health ministry announced that two people had died from Covid-19 and that 428 had tested positive from 78,007 PCR and rapid tests, a positivity rate of 0.55 per cent.

The deaths concerned a woman aged 80 and a man aged 34.No details as to patients’ underlying health conditions or vaccination status are provided.

The two deaths bring the toll since March 2020 to 601, of which 386 were men and 215 were women with an average age of 75.6 years.

There are 115 people in hospitals of whom 43 are in serious condition. Of these, 17 are intubated.

The ministry said that the percentage of unvaccinated patients was 69.5 per cent.

Of the 78,007 tests on Saturday, 9,499 were PCR and 68,508 rapid tests yielding 428 positives as follows:

18 from 4,492 samples taken at airports
98 from 4,777 samples taken through private initiative.
8 from 226 tests at hospital labs
204 from 50,420 people tested at private labs and pharmacies
100 from 18,088 samples taken under the health ministry’s free testing for special categories of citizen

Today
No deaths were recorded from coronavirus on Sunday as the ministry of health announced the detection of 307 new cases.

The total number of deaths remains at 601, of which 386 were men and 215 women.

Meanwhile, there were 119 people in hospital of which 43 were in a serious condition. Among the 43 serious cases, 15 are intubated, three are in intensive care but not on a ventilator and 25 are being treated in a high dependency unit.

Of all hospital patients, 68.91 per cent had no history of vaccination.

Three patients remain in a post Covid ward in ICU where they are intubated.

A total of 57,003 tests were carried out, meaning a positivity rate of 0.54 per cent.

Among all tests carried out on Sunday 7,383 were PCR tests and 49,620 rapid tests.

Twenty cases were found among 5,318 tests carried out at Larnaca and Paphos airports while 58 cases were found among 1,951 samples taken on private initiative. A further five were found among 114 tests at state labs.

Among rapid tests, 91 were found from 25,146 samples at private labs and pharmacies while 133 cases were found among the 24,474 tests carried out at the government’s testing sites.

Since the beginning of the pandemic a total of 136,832 people have tested postive for Covid-19.

YESTERDAY
The health ministry on Monday announced one Covid-19 death and 706 new infections, following 100,991 tests – a positivity rate of 0.7 per cent.

The death was that of an 88-year-old man who passed away at Famagusta general hospital.

As of Monday evening, there are 116 people receiving hospital treatment for the virus, of whom 41 are in serious condition. Of the 41, there are 17 intubations, two receiving treatment in ICUs – but not on ventilators – and 22 in the high dependency ward.

The ministry emphasised that 75 per cent of the 116 Covid-19 patients in hospital are unvaccinated.

The total number of deaths attributed to Covid-19 now stands at 602 of whom 387 are men (64.3 per cent) and the average age of those who died is 75.7.

As for the 706 infections, they were detected following 9,099 PCR tests and 91,892 rapid tests.

The PCR tests uncovered the following infections: 32 from 1,307 contact tracing tests, 22 from 5,310 airport tests, 97 from 1,776 tests taken privately and 24 from 379 hospital tests.

The 61,481 rapid tests taken privately – typically amongst the unvaccinated who are not eligible for free tests – returned 412 positives.

The government’s free screening programme for select groups carried out 30,411 tests and uncovered 119 infections.

The government’s programme also uncovered five infections at care homes, another 26 amongst primary school students and a further 15 amongst secondary school students.

Meanwhile, the north reported 242 Covid-19 infections on Monday – raising their total reported to 30,467. Monday’s infections were identified following 27,282 tests.

YESTERDAY
No deaths but 619 new Covid-19 cases were announced by the health ministry on Tuesday.

The new cases were among 80,112 PCR and rapid tests, a positivity rate of 0.77 per cent.

There are 118 patients with Covid-19 in hospital, of whom 45 in serious condition, including 18 who are intubated. In total 77.9 per cent of hospitalisations concern people who are not vaccinated.

Seventeen of the cases were among passengers at Larnaca and Paphos airports.

Most cases, 274, concern people who got rapid tests privately while 81 were detected during contact tracing. Another 94 were among samples collected through private initiative, 18 concerned samples collected from public hospital labs, and four cases concerned people who were referred for testing by their doctors.

The remaining 131 were among the tests carried out in all districts on behalf of the health ministry. Among them, 40 cases were detected during tests in high schools and 15 in primary schools. By city, 46 cases were detected in Nicosia out of 4,102 tests, 12 in Limassol (1,386), eight in Larnaca (1,006), six in Paphos (701) and four in the Famagusta district (452).

Earlier in the day, the health minister’s spokesman said the Omicron variant has not been detected in Cyprus so far.

The total number of cases since the start of the pandemic is a 138,157, while 602 people have died from Covid-19.

Yesterday

The health ministry announced the death of three people from Covid on Wednesday, as 576 new infections were detected after 82,025 tests, a positivity rate of 0.70 per cent.

At the same time, 128 people are being treated in hospital, 43 in serious or critical condition, the ministry said.

The deaths concern two men, 51 and 71, and a woman, 89.The 51-year-old died at home.

The number of fatalities since the outbreak of the pandemic has reached 605 while infections totalled 138,733 on Wednesday.

Of the 43 patients in serious or critical condition, 16 were intubated, four were in an ICU but off the ventilator, and 23 in high dependency units.

The ministry said 76.57 per cent of Covid patients were not vaccinated.

The new infections concern 120 people who were close contacts of previously confirmed cases. They were among 1,393 samples tested.

Seventeen cases were among 3,103 arriving passengers tested at the two airports. A further 92 cases were detected among 2,599 samples tested privately and nine were reported by state hospital labs in 311 samples.

The ministry said 237 cases were reported by private labs and pharmacies after testing 40,807 samples, and 119 cases were detected in 33,656 samples tested by units that are part of the state screening programme.

Turkish Cypriot reported three deaths on Wednesday and 272 new infections. The number of deaths in the north reached 116 with cases totalling 15,294.

TODAY

Authorities on Thursday announced two more fatalities from Covid-19, while testing detected 635 new positives to the coronavirus.

The two deaths were both women – one aged 84, who passed away on Thursday at Nicosia general hospital’s ICU; and the other aged 86, who had died in a nursing home on December 20, 2020.

On the 86-year-old, the health ministry said the fatality was discovered as part of regular checks carried out on death records registered for 2020.

That brings the Covid-19 death toll to 607 – of whom 389 men and 218 women. The average age of the deceased is 75.8 years.

Hospitals meanwhile were treating 139 patients, of whom 44 were in a serious condition; of the 44, 15 were intubated, four in ICU not off the ventilator, and 25 in high-dependency units.

In addition, five post-Covid patients (no longer infectious) continued to be intubated in ICU.

The ministry reported that 76.65 per cent of patients did not have a record of vaccination.

The latest 635 positives came from 87,780 tests (of which 11,498 done with PCR), for a positivity rate of 0.72%.

A breakdown of the positives: 114 from 1,234 samples through contact tracing; 11 from 3,879 samples taken at the airports; 100 from 6,014 samples taken by private initiative; seven from 297 samples processed by microbiology laboratories at the general hospitals; 274 from 44,751 samples processed by private clinical labs and pharmacies; 128 from 31,531 samples (antigen rapid tests) through the government’s free screening programme; and one from 74 samples as part of doctors’ referrals.

No positives came up from tests at nursing homes in Nicosia, Limassol and Larnaca districts. And 21,277 tests at primary and secondary schools found 33 positives.

TODAY
The health ministry announced 662 new cases of Covid-19 and no deaths on Friday.

As there were no new deaths, the toll remains 607, of whom 389 were men and 218 women.

There are 138 people being treated for coronavirus in hospitals, 47 of whom are in serious condition. Of the 47 patients, 17 are intubated, four are in the ICU without a ventilator and 26 in the High Dependency Unit.

Of all patients, 78.25 per cent are not vaccinated.

Five post-Covid patients who are no longer infectious are still intubated in the ICU.

A total of 93,840 PCR and rapid antigen tests were carried out today, with a positivity rate of 0.71 per cent.

Of the 93,840 tests, 9,817 were PCR and 84,023 rapid tests.

The majority, 280 of the 662 cases came from 51,513 rapid tests performed at private labs and pharmacies, with 109 more found out of 32,510 tests performed at free health ministry testing sites.

A total of 131 cases came from 4,140 samples taken through private initiative, while 1,785 samples taken through contacts of already confirmed cases turned up 120 positives.

Eleven cases were found among 326 samples processed by hospital labs while 168 samples taken through GP referrals yielded three positives.

In addition, 3,396 samples were taken at airports with eight positives.

The total number of positives to date is 140,030

YESTERDAY
One person died on Saturday from Covid-19 while 428 new cases were recorded, the ministry of health said.

The death referred to an 80-year-old woman who had been in Famagusta general hospital. Her death brings the total since the start of the pandemic to 608, of which 389 were men and 219 women.

Meanwhile, 145 patients are being treated in hospital, of whom 42 are in a serious condition. Among these patients 20 are intubated, two are in the ICU but not on a ventilator and 20 are being treated in a high dependency unit.

Of all patients in hospital 79.32 per cent have no history of vaccination.

Five patients remain in the post Covid ward in the ICU.

A total of 78,007 tests were carried out on Saturday, giving a positivity rate of 0.55 per cent. Of these tests 9,499 were PCR tests.

Among the positives 18 were found among 4,492 tests carried out at the airports, while 98 of those who took a test on private initiative also tested positive as did 8 people from 226 samples tested at labs at state hospitals.

Among 50,420 tests carried out at private labs and pharmacies 204 cases were found while the 18,088 people tested at ministry of health free rapid test centre showed 100 new cases.

The total number of cases since the start of the pandemic has now reached 140,458

TODAY
One death from coronavirus and 715 new infections were announced on Monday out of 141,566 PCR and rapid tests, a positivity rate of 0.67 per cent.

The death concerned an 85-year-old woman who died on Sunday at the Nicosia general hospital. This brings the number of deaths from Covid-19 to 611: 390 men and 221 women with an average age of 75.8 years.

There are 149 people in hospital with the virus, 52 of whom are in serious condition including 15 who are intubated. Some 77.19 per cent of those in hospital have not been vaccinated.

Thirty of the new cases were among passengers at the Larnaca and Paphos airports.

One case was among referrals for testing by doctors, 51 were detected during contact tracing, 98 were people who got tested through private initiative, 372 were among rapid tests carried out in pharmacies and private labs and 25 were among samples collected by state hospitals’ labs.

The remaining 138 were detected during the rapid tests carried out in all districts on behalf of the health ministry. These include two cases found in nursing homes in Nicosia, 23 in primary schools and 14 in high schools. Another two cases were detected during tests in closed structures. In addition, 49 cases were detected in the Nicosia district out of 5,868 tests, 16 in Limassol (1,648), 13 in Larnaca (1,318), 15 in Paphos (967), and four in the Famagusta district (491).

The total number of cases recorded so far is 141,566.

Today

Infections increasing as are hospitalisations... And the PCR testing on all arrivals proving increases too

The health ministry announced 662 new cases of Covid-19 and one death on Tuesday.

The death was a 92-year-old woman who died at home on Monday.

This brings the death toll to 612, of whom 390 were men and 222 women.

There are 159 people being treated for coronavirus in hospitals, 59 of whom are in serious condition. Of the 59 patients, 18 are intubated, four are in the ICU without a ventilator and 37 in a High Dependency Unit.

Of all patients, 80.51 per cent are not vaccinated against Covid.

Seven post-Covid patients who are no longer infectious are still intubated in the ICU.

A total of 80,985 PCR and rapid antigen tests were carried out on Tuesday, giving a positivity rate of 0.82 per cent.

Of the 80,985 tests, 9,665 were PCR and 71,320 rapid tests.

The majority, 235 of the 662 cases, came from 40,524 rapid tests performed at private labs and pharmacies, with 159 more found out of 30,796 tests performed at health ministry testing sites.

A total of 112 cases came from 2,750 samples taken through private initiative, while 1,585 samples taken through contacts of already confirmed cases turned up 105 positives.

Eight cases were found among 337 samples processed by hospital labs while 230 samples taken through GP referrals yielded no positives.

In addition, 4,762 samples were taken at airports with 43 positives.

The total number of positives to date is 142,228.

Meanwhile, the north reported 215 cases, detected out of 19,839 tests.

Two were imported cases, 62 contacts of confirmed cases and 151 local infections.

So far the north has reported 32,363 cases and 121 deaths.

Today
The health ministry announced two deaths from Covid-19 and 650 new infections on Wednesday, while 157 patients are in hospital receiving treatment for the virus.

A 95-year-old man who died on Tuesday and an 82-year-old woman who died on Wednesday were the latest fatalities, according to the ministry.

There are currently 157 people in hospital for Covid-19, of whom 54 are in serious or critical condition. Of those in hospital, 77.08 per cent are unvaccinated.

Today’s infections were identified following 85,024 tests, resulting in a positivity rate of 0.76 per cent.

The 85,024 tests carried out on Wednesday comprised 7,996 PCR tests and 77,028 rapid tests.

The PCR tests identified the following: 115 from 1,173 contact tracing tests, 21 from 3,510 airport tests, 124 from 2,807 private tests and 16 from 274 hospital tests.

Rapid tests taken privately – typically amongst the unvaccinated – totalled 43,200 and identified 257 positives.

The government’s screening programme for select groups carried out 33,828 tests and uncovered 115 infections.

One infection was reported at care homes, 21 from primary schools and 15 from secondary schools.

The north, meanwhile, reported 218 infections on Wednesday following 15,479 tests. Total infections reported in the break-away region now total 32,581 while deaths attributed to Covid-19 number 121.

Today

Authorities on Thursday announced two more deaths attributed to Covid-19, while testing tracked 632 new positives to the coronavirus as the number of hospitalised continued to climb.

The two latest fatalities were both men, aged 75 and 74, who passed away at Paphos general hospital and Famagusta general hospital, respectively.

That brings the death toll to 616 since March 2020. The average age of the deceased is 75.9 years.

In hospitals meanwhile 165 people were being treated for Covid-19. Of these 51 were in a serious condition – 18 intubated, four in ICU but not on a ventilator, and 29 in high-dependency units.

In addition, eight post-Covid patients continued to be intubated in ICU.

The health ministry reported that 75.76 per cent of the hospitalised did not have a record of vaccination.

The 632 positives on the day were detected from a total of 87,028 tests, of which 8,762 were done with PCR. The day’s positivity rate stood at 0.73 per cent.

A breakdown of Thursday’s positives: 110 from 1,359 samples via contact tracing; 30 from 4,607 samples taken as part of screening at the airports; 72 from 2,416 samples taken by private initiative; 13 from 291 samples processed by the microbiology laboratories at the general hospitals; 269 from 45,807 samples (antigen rapid tests) processed by private clinical labs and pharmacies; and 138 from 32,459 samples as part of the government free screening programme.

No positives emerged from tests at nursing homes in Nicosia and Limassol districts. In primary and secondary schools, 39 positives were tracked from 21,147 tests.

In the north, authorities reported two more Covid deaths, while 186 new positives were detected.

Northern results seem suspiciously low...

Jim

Today

The health ministry announced that one person had died of Covid-19 and 695 had tested positive from 82,410 tests, a positivity rate of  0.84  per cent.

The death concerns a 62-year-old woman who died at Nicosia general hospital.

The number of lives claimed by the virus since March last year is 617 with infections reaching 144,205.

There are 171 people in hospitals of whom 57 in serious condition.

The ministry said that the percentage of unvaccinated patients was 74.71 per cent.

Eight post-Covid patients continued to be on a ventilator, the ministry said.

Of the 57 people in serious condition, 20 were intubated, one was in the ICU off the ventilator, and 36 in high dependency units.

Of the 695 cases, 144 concerned close contacts of previously confirmed cases detected in 1,729 samples.

Forty cases were found in 5,210 samples tested at the two airports and 105 cases were detected in 3,345 samples tested privately.

Three cases were reported by state hospital labs in 321 tests. Private labs and pharmacies reported 292 cases in 48,178 samples tested using rapid antigen tests.

Units taking part in the state’s mass screening programme reported 111 infections in 23,523 samples.

Omicron is here.....

Health authorities said Friday they have detected 28 additional cases of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus.

In a statement, the ministry said 20 of those were primary and secondary contacts of the five Omicron cases initially detected after a school trip to Glasgow early this month.

The remainder concern people who travelled recently, the ministry said.

The 20 cases include 10 pupils, nine family members, and one teacher.

All 20 had been considered as possible Omicron infections last Friday and had been quarantined.

No on other information was immediately available regarding the other eight cases.

Today

The health ministry announced that two people had died of Covid-19 and that 508 had tested positive from 75,844  PCR and rapid tests, a positivity rate of  0.67 per cent.

The deaths concerned a woman aged 82 and a man aged 75. The woman died on Friday at Larnaca hospital and the man on Saturday at Nicosia General. Total deaths now stand at 619 since March 2020 with the average age being 75.8 years old.

There are 177 people in hospitals of whom 59 are in serious condition. Of these, 21 are intubated.

The ministry said that the percentage of unvaccinated patients was 79.6 per cent.

Of the 75,844 tests on Saturday, 9,501 were PCR) and 66,343 rapid tests, yielding 508 positives as follows: 

31 from 5,365 samples at airports
135 from 3,880 samples taken through private initiative.
21 from 240 samples tested at hospital labs
212 from 46,576  tests at private clinical laboratories and pharmacies.
109 from 19,767 rapid tests under the ministry’s free programme
The latter are broken down as follows:

District

Number of tests

Number of positives

Nicosia

9,928

62

Limassol

3,228

11

Larnaca

3,218

12

Paphos

1,391

13

Famagusta

1,740

11

New rules for Brit arrivals from tonight Saturday 18th Dec 2021.

Passengers arriving from the UK will have to self-isolate upon arrival to Cyprus until their PCR test results are out, the health ministry said on Saturday.

This measure has been implemented from Saturday.

The ministry said that this was due to the rapid increase in cases of the Omicron variant in the United Kingdom.

All passengers over the age of 12 arriving from the UK, from December 18, 2021, are obliged to remain in self-isolation in their place of residence until their PCR test result is issued. This concerns everyone, regardless of vaccination coverage or if they have recovered from Covid-19.

In case of a positive result, they must remain in strict self-isolation and await instructions from the epidemiological surveillance & infectious diseases control unit.

Upon their arrival, these passengers will be given five self-tests which they must use if their PCR test at the airport is negative. In case their self-test is positive, they must contact their GP in Cyprus to refer them for a PCR. If they do not have a GP in Cyprus, they must contact coordination.iatreiadygeias@moh.gov.cy by sending their details (full name, phone number, ID number, date of birth, and the district they are in) and a photo of their positive self-test.

Those who have had negative PCR at the airport and negative self-test results, must, 72 hours after their arrival, get a rapid test at the mobile units operated by the health ministry. They then need to go to www.eudcc.gov.cy and issue their test results  which they must email to monada2@mphs.moh.gov.cy through the Eudcc website, by choosing SEND.

To get a free rapid test at the mobile units, people also need to present their boarding pass.

“It is recommended during the first days of arrival in the Republic of Cyprus to have limited contact, to observe personal protection measures (use of mask, hand hygiene, keeping distance) and to avoid any physical contact with people in vulnerable groups,” the health ministry said.

Today

One death and 448 new Covid-19 cases were announced on Sunday by the health ministry.

The death concerns an 87-year-old man who died on Saturday at the Nicosia general hospital. This brings the number of people who died from Covid-19 to 620: 395 men and 225 women with an average age of 75,8 years.

There are 175 patients with Covid-19 in hospital, 60 of whom in serious condition, including 22 who are intubated. In total 79.3 per cent of hospitalised patients are not vaccinated.

The new cases were among 59,828  PCR and rapid tests with a positivity rate of 0.75 per cent.

Nine of the new cases were detected during contact tracing while 49 concern passengers at the Larnaca and Paphos airports.

One case was among samples collected by state hospitals’ labs, 68 were cases detected during the collection of samples through private initiative, and 127 concerned people who got rapid tests in private labs and pharmacies.

The remaining 194 were detected through the rapid testing carried out in all districts on behalf of the health ministry.

So far 145,161 cases were recorded.