[WATCH] Five people tested positive for COVID-19 overnight, 36 more have recovered

Malta has recorded 463 cases of COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic with five new cases reported overnight.

Public Health Superintendent Charmaine Gauci said on Wednesday that 36 more people have recovered, bringing the total to 339. The recovered patients are more than twice the active cases of COVID-19.

More than 1,000 swab tests were carried out overnight, bringing the total number of tests to 31,736.

The five new cases include two women who had no symptoms and were identified through routine screening. The first was a 27-year-old woman who was screened before undergoing a surgical intervention at Mater Dei Hospital and the second was a 52-year-old hospital worker who was tested as part of ongoing screening of workers. The hospital employee was not a healthcare worker and her colleagues have been placed in quarantine.

Hal Far migrant village

Gauci said that 96 more tests were carried out among residents at the Hal Far open centre and none were positive. Overall, 601 tests were carried out among residents at the Hal Far village, which has been on extended quarantine for almost four weeks.

Gauci said that seven of the 48 people who registered positive at the open centre had now recovered.

She said that some of the residents who tested negative and have been kept isolated from other groups, will now be able to leave the centre. However, given that new cases were registered there on Tuesday, the quarantine period will be extended for people who were exposed to the new patients.

Transition strategy

Gauci said a risk assessment of each restrictive measure to be lifted is being carried out before any decision is taken. She stressed that the advice to avoid meeting people outside the household remained in place.

She ruled out that certain religious functions like funerals, weddings and masses can return back to normal soon. "We have to avoid situations where people gather," she insisted, adding that hairdressers and beauticians visiting clients at home were defying the advice to avoid unnecessary contact.