Elderly woman is eleventh victim of coronavirus in Malta

The Ministry for Health has announced the death of an 86 year-old COVID-19 patient this afternoon.

In a brief statement issued at 3pm, the ministry said that the woman had tested positive on August 18 and was being treated at the Intensive Therapy Unit (ITU) at Mater Dei. She had been in intensive care since her admission to hospital, said the authorities.

The ministry expressed its condolences to the patient’s family and appealed to the public to continue to follow its directives.

Earlier today it was announced that 27 new cases of COVID-19 had been registered overnight, according to daily figures released by the Health Ministry.

58 more people have since recovered from the virus. The number of active cases now stands at 592.

Since the start of the pandemic in March, 1244 people have recovered from the virus and 11 patients have died.

The health authorities are still investigating today's cases. Of those reported yesterday, 8 new cases were family members of previously known cases, 3 were a result of direct contact with known cases, 5 were work colleagues of positive cases and 2 cases were contacts from social gatherings.