Updated | 28 new cases of COVID-19, 19 are migrants

Updated at 12:40 pm with Health Ministry statement

28 new cases of COVID-19 were reported on Thursday.

Of the 28 new cases, nineteen are from a second group of migrants who disembarked in Malta on Wednesday.

33 people were brought ashore by the Armed Forces of Malta on Wednesday. All migrants were isolated and swabbed the moment they set foot in Malta.

The health ministry said that four cases form part of the St Venera Feast cluster, while the remaining are sporadic cases. Almost all new cases are under 35 years of age.

“As per usual procedure, migrants arriving by boat are immediately quarantined and tested. The migrants who are positive will continue to be isolated at the Ħal Far Initial Reception Centre, and the rest will remain in quarantine and followed up,” the ministry said.

This brings the total number of migrants who tested positive this week to 85. On Tuesday, 66 migrants from a group of 94 who disembarked a day earlier had tested positive for COVID-19.

The total number of active cases in Malta currently stands at 140.

The migrant cases come at a time when local cases are surging as a result of a mass party and a band club march.

1,722 swab tests were carried out in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of swabs to 125,685.