COVID 19: THREE DIE IN SINGLE DAY

Two women aged 72 and 86 and a man aged 85 have died with Covid-19, health authorities confirmed on Saturday.

This means that a total of 20 people have now died while positive for the virus, and also means that more people have died since the start of what has been widely recognised as the second wave of the pandemic mid-way through July, than when the pandemic first hit between last March and May.

The Health Ministry said that the 72-year-old woman was taken to hospital on 11 August, and tested positive for Covid-19 the day after. She was transferred to the Intensive Therapy Unit on 15 August, where she remained for treatment.

She passed away overnight, the ministry said.

The Ministry said that the 86year-old tested positive for the virus on 8 September, and was taken to hospital for treatment in the Intensive Therapy Unit on 16 September.

She too passed away overnight, the ministry said.

The man was admitted to hospital on 12 September and died today in the Infectious Diseases Unit. He had other medical conditions.

It is the first time that three people have died of the virus in one day. Two had died on 29 May.

The Ministry expressed its condolences to the families of the two victims, and appealed to the public to continue to follow the Health Department’s appeals, especially on hand hygiene, social distancing, and the usage of facemasks.

Sixty-five new cases of Covid19 were found overnight along with 21 new recoveries, health authorities said on Saturday in their daily update.

It means that the number of active cases of the virus is now up to 663.

2,922 swab tests were carried out in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of tests up to 229,252.

Authorities said that today’s cases are still being investigated, but gave details about the 39 cases reported on Friday.

Out of those 39, 10 were family members of previously known cases, 3 were direct contacts of other positive cases, another 3 were from the St. Joseph’s Home for the Elderly cluster, another one was from Casa Antonia, one was a work colleague of a previously known case, and one was from a social gathering.

It means that Malta has now had 2,699 cases of Covid-19.

Out of those, 2,017 have recovered and 19 have died.