175 new Covid-19 cases were recorded in the past 24-hours, health authorities said. There were also 67 recoveries and 2 deaths, taking the total number of active cases to 2,749 in Malta and Gozo. The number of swabs taken over this period was 3,292.
No details have so far been provided by the health authorities on the 2 deaths.
Authorities said that today’s cases are “still being investigated.” From yesterday’s 193 cases; 49 were family members of previously known cases, 15 were contacts of positive work colleagues, 12 cases were from direct contacts with other positive cases, 15 cases from social gatherings from other positive cases. Details were not give for the other outstanding 102 sporadic cases.
This morning the MUMN said that it will be declaring an industrial dispute, if logistics are not improved with regards to vaccination delivery.
The union said that appointment time slots should increase by 30 minutes in order for nurses to be able to assist the clients for vaccination, as in some cases, because of the cold weather, multiple layers of clothes having to be removed, therefore the current 5 minutes per patient is just not enough.
The MUMN also stressed that vaccination lists should be provided to the Health Centres where vaccinations are taking place, to have been verified by Primary Care through the phoning of all patients to “check if they are alive, are willing to attend the appointment and also to advise them to keep to their allocated time slot.”
The total number of cases are now up to 15,447. There have been 12,460 recoveries and 238 deaths, the Ministry said. 564,079 swab tests have been taken since the start of the pandemic in Malta.
The European Centre for Disease Prevention and [1] Control has advised that it will be reporting figures on a weekly basis – every Thursday, however today’s figures have not yet been updated. As of week 53, show that the number of cases recorded for Malta is at 13,082 and the number of deaths showing is 220. The 14-day cumulative number of Covid-19 cases per 100,000 is 277.17 Malta is currently in 21st position in the EU/EEA and UK. Lithuania is at the top with 1199.28.
Public Health Authorities said that anyone who needs to take a test should call 111 to set an appointment, even if they do not have any symptoms. It is to be noted that due to the large volume of calls, it can take some time to get through.
All swabbing centres are open every day, including the one in Gozo, however appointments must be made on the above number.
The Ministry of Health, while offering its condolences to the relatives of the families who have passed away, called on the public to continue to follow the preventive measures so that we can protect the most vulnerable in our society – This includes wearing of masks, social distancing and hand hygiene.