COVID surge continues with 218 new cases

Updated at 3:30 pm with PN statement

The surge in COVID-19 cases has continued unabated with 218 new infections recorded overnight, the health authorities reported.

With zero recoveries, the number of active cases now tops 1,000. No deaths were recorded overnight.

Since the start of the pandemic in March last year, 31,612 people contracted COVID-19, including 420 who died.

The data released on the Health Ministry’s Facebook page contains no information on hospitalisations.

The new cases were detected after 4,188 swab tests, giving a positivity rate of 5.2%.

The figures show that 352,523 residents are now fully vaccinated against coronavirus.

The surge in cases in Malta reflects similar trends across Europe and comes at a time when the highly contagious Delta variant coincided with the easing of travel restrictions.

Health Minister Chris Fearne yesterday said that until yesterday only 15% of active cases were Maltese citizens. The majority were people under 30.

He said the Delta variant, first detected in India, was in the community, insisting that vaccines are the best protection against the variant.

Fearne also reported that until yesterday there were seven patients recovering from COVID in hospital, but only one was in the ITU.

PN criticises ‘immature’ decisions by government  

The Nationalist Party has criticised the “immature” decisions by government which have led to an increase in COVID-19 cases.

It said the €300 vouchers given to English language students should have been given to vaccinated tourists.

It said the government should enforce better the country’s entry points, while ensuring more rigorous contact tracing.

Government should also address the situation faced by English language students stuck in Malta following the rolling out of new regulation.  

It said government should reopen language schools for vaccinated student, while assisting them in providing online teaching.