First death from COVID-19 in nearly 3 months, as 36 new cases registered
A man has become the 10th victim of Coronavirus in Malta, as 36 new cases were registered on Friday.
In a statement, the Health Ministry said that a 72-yearold man is the latest victim of the virus. The ministry said that the man had other medical conditions before he contracted the virus.
He was confirmed positive on 14 August and was given treatment at St Thomas Hospital before being transferred to Mater De Hospital.
The health authorities said that apart from 36 new cases, there were 52 recoveries on Thursday, meaning that the number of active cases has decreased to 682.
A total of 2,445 swab tests were carried out in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of swabs up to 168,793.
Malta has had a total of 1,546 cases of Coronavirus since the first case was found on 7 March, with 854 having recovered, and 10 have passed away.
Superintendent of Public Health Charmaine Gauci said on Friday that there are currently three people receiving treatment for COVID-19 in ITU, with all three of them currently on ventilators.
Giving an update about the situation in hospital, Gauci said that a total of 39 people are currently in various hospitals across the island.
Notably, Gauci said that three people are currently receiving treatment in Mater Dei’s Intensive Therapy Unit and are all on ventilators. She said that their condition is critical but stable.
Another seven people are currently at Mater Dei Hospital, with four in the Infectious Diseases Unit and another three in other wards in the hospital.
17 people meanwhile are in Boffa Hospital, while 12 are in St Thomas Hospital.
Gauci said that the biggest increase over the past week was in family clusters, where 54 cases were found in this regard – taking the number of these clusters up to an overall of 83 cases.
The Paceville cluster meanwhile has also continued to increase over the past week, with 18 new cases being found. This cluster is now formed of 76 cases.
The Mount Carmel Hospital cluster has also increased by 22 cases, meaning that it now stands at 34 cases, while workplace clusters have risen from 12 to 26.
Twenty- three cases found this week have also been related to gatherings.
Speaking about the average age of new cases, Gauci noted that the average age of COVID- 19 cases had continued to increase in the last week.
The average age of the cases found between 13 and 19 August stood at 38.7 years old – compared to 35.5 in the week prior, and 34.1 the week before that.
The average age of new cases between 16 and 22 July was of just 24.3 years old, while it was at 28 years old between 23 and 29 July.
Gauci also delved into new restrictive measures rel eased on Monday, which speak of the closure of night clubs and discotheques and restrictions on the operations of bars. Standup events are also banned, she said, and mass gatheri ngs are restricted to 15 people.
She spoke of the importance of the usage of facemasks, and also delved into details about measures taken to mitigate imported cases - noting that those coming from Bulgaria, Romania, and certain areas of Spain, need to come to Malta with a negative test for COVID- 19 and that those who don’t can be quarantined and will be subjected to a swab test.
Gauci also confirmed that Malta’s reproduction number is still below 2 - contrary to reports being bandied around by certain social media pages which claim to give information about the pandemic.
On cruise- liners, Gauci said that the health authorities are imposing a number of protocols and that the industry itself has stepped up in efforts to control the spread of the virus. “The vessel needs to hand in a maritime declaration of health, without it the ship can dock but no one can leave. If someone is tested positive on board, nobody will be allowed to leave the ship.”