Woman becomes 34th victim, tests positive after death

A woman became the 34th victim of the Coronavirus in Malta, the health ministry said yesterday.

The woman, aged 79, tested negative on 26 September during routine swab tests in the elderly people’s home where she resided.

She died on 28 September, yesterday, and a swab test carried out after her death turned out positive.

She suffered other medical conditions, the Health Ministry said.

A total of 21 people have now died with COVID-19 in the month of September alone, a bi-product of the virus making its way into some elderly homes.

Yesterday’s Coronavirus daily update announced that there were 29 new cases of the virus.

85 more people meanwhile were confirmed to have recovered from the virus.

It means that the number of active cases has dropped to 517.

2,116 swab tests were carried out between Monday and Tuesday, taking the total number of tests up to 251,772.

The health authorities said that yesterday’s announced cases are still being investigated, but gave details about the cases reported on Monday.

Out of 27 cases reported on Monday, 7 were family members of previously known cases, 2 were imported, 2 were contacts of positive work colleagues, 1 was from the Paceville cluster, another was related to a social gathering with other positive cases, 1 more was a direct contact of another positive case, and another was from the St. Joseph’s Home cluster.

Malta has had a total of 3,035 cases of COVID-19 since the virus first landed in Malta last March. 2,484 of those have recovered, while 34 people have died.