The health ministry on Saturday announced 298 new coronavirus cases, 131 of them in Limassol.

The new cases were among 45,369 tests, with a positivity rate of 0.66 per cent.

Hospitalisations have increased to 126, compared to 111 on Friday. Twenty-five patients are in serious condition, 11 of them intubated.

The new cases concern 44 found positive through contact tracing, and 24 among people who got tested privately.

Nine cases were among tests carried out among arrivals at Larnaca and Paphos airports, 15 cases were among samples processed at state hospitals’ labs, and five cases were people who got rapid tests in private labs.

Another 201 cases were among 41,784 rapid tests carried out on behalf of the health ministry in all districts.

More than half of these cases, 131, were recorded in the Limassol district with a positivity rate of 1.08 per cent. In Nicosia, 29 cases (0.18 per cent) were recorded, 19 in Larnaca (0.31 per cent), 13 in Paphos (0.38 per cent), and seven (0.37 per cent) in the Famagusta district. Two cases were detected in the education sector.

This brings the total number of cases to 36,575.