185 new Covid-19 cases were recorded in the past 24-hours, health authorities said. There were also 174 recoveries and 3 deaths, taking the total number of active cases to 2,695 in Malta and Gozo. The number of swabs taken over this period was 3,280.
Health authorities advised that during the last 24 hours, 3 patients have died while while being positive for Covid-19. An 85-year old man has passed away at Mater Dei Hospital. An 88-year old man has passed away at the Good Samaritan Long-Term Care Facility, and a woman aged 97 has passed away at St Vincent de Paul.
In her weekly update, Superintendent of Public Health Charmaine Gauci said that there are currently 89 positive cases in Gozo out of the total amount, down from 119 last week, of which 11 patients are in the Gozo General Hospital, this is down from 14 last week.
In Malta; At Mater Dei 16 are in ITU, 6 in IDU and 44 in other wards, 10 are in Boffa 9 in St Thomas, 13 in Karin Grech, 10 at Mount Carmel and 43 at the Good Samaritan Long-Term Care Facility.
Prof Gauci said that the moving average is 160 cases a day. The majority of cases in the past week have been aged between 35 and 44, she added that however they had noted an increase of cases in those aged between 65 and 74.
She noted that household clusters have accounted for a high number of cases in the past week, as has social gatherings and cases from the workplace. There has also been a number of cases related to sports, particularly, high-intensive physical activity, “where the person has to take more breaths.” Prof Gauci advised that it was important to maintain social distance when practicing these types of sports.
24,680 vaccine doses had been administered till yesterday – Thursday. Health authorities said that of these 2,518 were second doses.
Details have also not been provided by Health Authorities on the composition of yesterday’s 208 confirmed cases.
The total number of cases are now up to 17,585 There have been 14,626 recoveries and 264 deaths, the Ministry said. 606,306 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. As of week 3 it shows that the number of cases recorded for Malta is at 16,681 and the number of deaths showing is 253. The 14-day cumulative number of Covid-19 cases per 100,000 is now 472.49. Malta is currently in 11th position in the EU/EEA and UK. Portugal is at the top with 1429.43.
The ECDC said that the above data are collected between Monday and Wednesday for the proceeding week.
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 deceased, 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.