[WATCH] COVID-19 briefing: Two deaths and 27 new cases

27 new cases of COVID-19 were registered on Friday, the health ministry has said.

This is the lowest figure the island has registered since September. 

264,658 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered until Thursday. Of which, 80,671 were second doses.  

Total recoveries stand at 28,872, while total cases registered stand at 29,860.

There are 583 active COVID-19 cases.

Two persons have died in the last 24-hours—two men aged 67, at Mater Dei Hospital.

The total number of deaths is 405.

1,883 swab tests were carried out in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of swabs to 842,208.

COVID-19 briefing 

Public Health Superintendent Charmaine Gauci advised those over 60 who still have not received a vaccination appointment should call 145.

Gauci advised those over 50 to register, saying that vaccines are safe and of good quality. "We are already seeing the number of cases decrease," she said. 

People aged between 50 and 59 can register for vaccination either online or by sending an SMS to 99180045 (Malta) 99180044 (Gozo) with the message including their ID card number and letter.

Gauci said they have already given out 15,00 appointments for this age bracket. 

75% of cases detected in Malta are the UK variant, which has been found to be more infectious than the original strain.

Gauci said that nine people were in the ITU at Mater Dei Hospital.  

Other admissions: 8 in infectious diseases unit • 21 in other wards • 1 in Gozo hospital (0 ITU) • 9 in Sir Paul Boffa hospital • 9 in St Thomas hospital • 0 in the Good Samaritan facility • 1 in Mount Carmel Hospital • 11 Karin Grech.

Gauci said that the largest cluster was once again households with 101 cases, followed by imported cases with 39. There were 37 cases from the workplace cluster, while 29 were from social gatherings.

Gauci said the average age of new cases was 39-years-old. She warned that patients were becoming younger in age, as older cohorts are now vaccinated. 

Questions segment 

Asked about whether a third booster would be needed for vaccines such as a Pfizer. Gauci said at this time; there was no concert data about how long the immunity of the vaccines would last; however, the data was pointing in the right direction. She said if a booster were required, it would be made available to the public.

She also said that vaccine hesitancy was limited in Malta and that most people understood that vaccines were important.

Gauci said that the government was focusing on the reopening of schools and that there have been no identifiable clusters from schools so far.

Despite reports that restaurants could potentially be reopening in May, Gauci did not give a timeline for when restaurants, bars and clubs would be able to reopen. She also did not give a date for when organised sports or mass events would be able to resume.

Gauci said that there have been no cases of the Brazilian variant so far and that there have only been four cases of the South African variant.

Gauci urged people to stick to wearing their masks, despite the gradually warming weather. Masks are crucial to limiting transmission, she said, and social distancing remained extremely important.      

Regarding weddings, Gauci said the authorities were trying to determine when it would allow weddings to occur.