The spike in Covid-19 cases seen in recent weeks has resulted in Malta having the third highest number cases per capita in the European Union according to data gathered and published by the European Centre for Disease Control (ECDC).
In data published on Thursday last week, Malta was shown to have registered 720.42 cases of Covid-19 per 100,000 inhabitants in the previous two weeks – enough to place the country in a worrying third place when compared to other countries in the EU.
Only Czechia – with a staggering 1,572.02 cases per 100,000 inhabitants in the previous two weeks – and Estonia – with a slightly less eye-watering 1,397.09 cases per 100,000 inhabitants – ranked higher.
The European average of cases being per capita in the period being assessed stood at 328.94 cases – less than half the rate registered in Malta.
Countries which are registering case numbers lower than, but quite close to, Malta are Hungary (645.55), Slovakia (567.88), Sweden (527.64), and Slovenia (520.74).
The countries with the lowest number of cases in the EU are Iceland (4.12), Spain (14.79), Norway (119.40), Denmark (124.29), Portugal (125.62), Germany (137.39), and Finland (151.85).
Malta’s other Mediterranean counterparts are also faring better: Cyprus has 407.43 cases per 100,000, Greece has 236.21 cases, and Italy – which has just introduced measures similar to Malta – has 432.99 cases.
In recent weeks, Malta has registered an unprecedentedly high number of Covid-19 cases, as the more transmissible UK variant has run riot within the community and which has led to the introduction of new restrictive measures.
Between 200 and 300 cases have been consistently registered in recent days, with a record of 510 cases being registered recently as well.
Health Minister Chris Fearne has admitted that the UK variant – which is some 70% more transmissible than the original strain of Covid-19 – has contributed to around two-thirds of the cases being found.
New measures imposing the closure of schools, non-essential shops and services, gyms, and sports amongst other things were implemented last week as a result of the spike.
This all being said, Malta does rank better when it comes to the death rate per 100,000 inhabitants in the same period.
With 58.30 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants in the previous two weeks, Malta placed 14th out of the countries in the EU. Slovakia (246.25), Czechia (238.64), and Hungary (167.97) had the most deaths respectively in this period.
The lowest death rate meanwhile can be found in Norway (4.47), Cyprus (4.50), Denmark (6.53), Finland (7.42), and Sweden (11.43).
Two countries – Iceland and Liechtenstein – which are not part of the EU but are included in this dataset have had no deaths in the past two weeks as a result of the virus.
The average given by the ECDC for the death rate per capita is of 66.97 people per 100,000 inhabitants – meaning that Malta’s rate of deaths is lower than the EU average.
This may be down to the country’s vaccination efforts, with Malta currently leading the way in the EU in terms of the vaccination rate.
Over 120,000 doses of the vaccine had been administered as of Saturday, with almost 40,000 people having received both doses of the vaccine. Healthcare workers were the first cohort of people to receive the vaccine, followed by the elderly depending on their age groups.
Fearne has said that Malta is expected to achieve herd immunity five weeks earlier than scheduled in mid-August, but that this may come even earlier depending on the number of the now-approved Johnson & Johnson single-dose vaccine which arrive and when they arrive – Malta has 250,000 doses of this vaccine on order.