COVID-19 death toll at 120 as vaccination rate inches along

COVID-related deaths increased by one on Monday to reach 120.

A 50-year old man is the latest patient to succumb to the viral illness.

But the vaccination rate continues to perform below expectations with the number of fully vaccinated people reaching 51.2 per cent of those eligible to receive the jab or 43.2 per cent of the total population.

About 117,020 have received both doses of the vaccine while the total number with at least one dose is 145,339, amounting to 63.6 per cent of the eligible population.

The daily rate of new coronavirus cases has dipped sharply for the first time in two weeks with 203 cases – 87 males and 116 females – confirmed from 1,913 tests conducted by the Best Dos Santos Public Health Laboratory.

The trend of children making up one quarter of new cases continued steadily – 52 under age 18 and 151 who are 18 years and older. There are 595 people in isolation facilities, but the number of COVID-19 sufferers in home isolation tripled in the two weeks since the measure began with 3,269 at home.

The total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases since March last year stands at 13,171 (6,339 males and 6,832 females). (SD)