30 more test positive for coronavirus

Coronavirus cases in the Republic of Cyprus reached 426 on Saturday after 30 more were confirmed positive for the virus.

The 30 new cases that were announced on Saturday by the Health Ministry during its daily briefing involved 13 persons who were tracked down as contacts of other confirmed cases, three persons in the Aradippou cluster, one person who had recently returned from a trip abroad, and 13 others whose history is still under examination.

The three new cases that were confirmed in the Aradippou Municipality emerged from the targeted sampling that was launched this week. The three who tested positive were among a total of 38 targeted tests conducted on Wednesday.

An additional 153 tests were conducted on Friday and another 334 on Saturday, the results of which will be announced in the coming days.

Samples from the targeted testing currently taking place in Paphos and Aradippou are being processed by the private lab NIPD Genetics.

In Paphos, some 1,000 targeted tests are scheduled to be completed by Tuesday, though so far only 62% of those called in for testing have shown up for their appointment.

So far in the Republic, 13 persons who had contracted the virus have died, though only nine of the deaths were fully attributed to the virus. 

Of the total 426 confirmed cases, 282 involve contacts of other known cases, while 33 have recovered.

A total of 10,154 samples have so far been processed for coronavirus in the Republic. 

Cases remained stable at 88 in the north, where two who had contracted the virus have died.