75,852 individuals were swabbed for Covid-19 between February and June across 102,394 tests, statistics tabled in Parliament by Health Minister Chris Fearne shows.

Fearne was asked by PN MP Claudette Buttigieg how many individuals had been tested for the virus between February and last month excluding re-swabbings.

The data shows that 150 people were swabbed in February, 6,835 in March, 22,185 in April, 28,961 in May, and 17,721 in June – which all together make up a total of 75,852 individuals across those four months.

It is important to note that this number is only the number of individuals who have been swabbed. Statistics of swabs released by Health Authorities every day do not differentiate between who is being swabbed for the first time and who is being swabbed for a second or third time, for example.

In fact, further statistics tabled by Fearne showed that 10,027 individuals were swabbed twice, while another 2,513 individuals were swabbed three times. Another 1,789 people were swabbed four times or more. Indeed 47 out of those have been swabbed 10 times or more.

All this means that the total number of swabs, making no distinction between those swabbed once and those swabbed more than once, up to the end of June stood at 102,394 swabs.

On a month-by-month basis, May was the month where the most swabs were carried out, with a total of 37,767 swab tests being carried out in that month.

Another 156 tests were carried out in February, 7,655 in March, 26,207 in April, and another 26,521 in June.

The first case of Covid-19 in Malta was reported on 7 March.

672 people have tested positive for the virus since, with data tabled on Monday showing that 469 of those are Maltese.

Alongside other nationalities that were registered for COVID-19 in Malta, there are 31 who are Indians, 22 Italians, and 18 from Sudan. There were also 12 registered from the Philippines and United Kingdom and 9 from Somalia.