11 deaths in a week as active cases edge up again

Two elderly people died due to COVID-19 on Thursday, taking the overall total of victims to 27 as of yesterday afternoon, with 11 of them in the last week. The number of active cases has increased again after more new patients than recoveries were registered.

The Health Ministry said in a statement that yesterday’s two victims were residents in different elderly people’s homes.

It was the seventh day in a row that Malta registered deaths of people as a result of COVID-19. Fifteen people have died since the start of the month, more than in the previous six months since the pandemic was first registered in Malta in March.

The first death recorded yesterday was that of a 91-year-old man who tested positive on 14 September.

The second victim was a 73-year-old woman. She had tested positive on 15 September.

Both victims, the health authorities said, were suffering from other medical conditions.

The Health Ministry appealed for everyone to continue following the health authorities’ guidelines, including the washing of hands, social distancing and the use of masks. It sent its condolences to the families of the victims.

The number of new cases registered yesterday was 42, while 18 patients have recovered.

The number of active cases in Malta currently stands at 680. This is the third highest number of active cases we had in Malta. The record of 699 active cases was registered on 20 August, while a day later we had 682.

The health authorities said that the 42 new cases were recorded from 2,303 swab tests, taking the total number of swab tests up to 240,387.

Authorities said that the cases recorded yesterday are still being investigated, but gave details about the cases reported on Wednesday.

A total of 42 cases were reported on Wednesday, out of which 13 were family members of previously known cases, 3 were direct contacts of positive cases, another 3 were from social gatherings with positive cases, while two more were work colleagues of previously known cases.

Malta has had 2,898 cases of COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic. 2,191 out of those have recovered, while 27 have died.