15 new cases takes total active COVID-19 cases to 125

The country has experienced a higher number of new cases for almost a week but Gauci insisted also that the number of tests has also gone up.

"At the start of the pandemic we only used to test those with symptoms, which means there may have been other people in the community without symptoms, who had the virus but were never identified. What worries me is the people who are out there with the virus and who do not know they are sick," Gauci said, adding that the testing regime was now reaching out to various groups of workers.

The  transmission rate, known as the R-factor, had gone above one over the past week.

The increased incidence of new cases comes three weeks after non-essential shops were re-opened and public gatherings were increased to four from three.

Government has announced the re-opening of more outlets from this Friday and further relaxation of public gatherings, which will now be limited to six people.

Restaurants, hairdressers, beauticians and nail technicians are among the outlets that will be able to open from Friday.

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