Two new cases of Covid-19 were reported by health authorities on Friday.
Four people have recovered, while no new deaths were recorded in the past 24 hours, meaning that the country currently has 74 active cases of the virus.
Health chief Charmaine Gauci addressed her weekly briefing this afternoon, which can be watched below.
2,545 swab tests were carried out in the past 24 hours, taking the total number of swab tests so far up to 936,409.
541,178 doses of the vaccine meanwhile had been administered up until Thursday. 324,295 of those are a first dose, while 226,341 people are fully vaccinated.
Malta has had 30,559 cases of the virus. 30,066 of those have recovered, while 419 have died.
Like previous weeks, Gauci spoke about the successful vaccination roll-out. 74% out of all population had the first dose and 50% are fully vaccinated.
Out of those above 16 years of age, 48% already took their first dose and out of this 24% are already fully vaccinated.
Gauci mentioned that European Medicines Agency has approved the vaccine for kids over 12 years of age. Gauci said that applications for this will open in the coming days, and that whoever needs to vaccinate their children before the exam period should send an email to [email protected]. The Health Authorities will then evaluate the request.
Gauci also reminded that the vaccination certificate is now available to be downloaded by those who received have been fully vaccinated for two weeks.
The 7-day moving average is currently 5 cases and the average age of the cases found in the past week was 32 years. The positivitiy rate is 0.2% of all swabs done daily.
Gauci revealed that Malta has found its first case of the Indian variant, which is being investigated by health authorities.
Gauci also confirmed that there are no COVID patients receiving treatment in Mater Dei's Intensive Therapy Unit (ITU). She said that there are only 2 patients in all other hospitals around the country..
Out of all cases, the majority are sporadic and are investigated. 10 cases are from households, 7 cases were imported and 4 cases resulted from social gatherings.
As of 1st June, the strategy changed for persons coming to Malta. People were denied boarding aircraft coming to Malta this week. The passengers are to provide information for contact tracing. If a passenger has a vaccination certificate, then there is no need for a PCR test. If a person without the test result or without certification manages to get on board, they will be stopped at Malta airport, get tested and remain in quaratine until the test results are out.
During this past week no positive cases were found coming in through the airport, she said.
Taking questions from the press, Gauci confirmed that 95% of travellers inbound to Malta have provided documentation showing that they are either fully vaccinated or have taken a negative PCR test in the last 72 hours.
The remaining 5% of travellers were checked by Maltese authorities, given a Covid-19 swab test and put into quarantine.
Gauci said that travellers making their way into Malta without providing documentation before boarding are being investigated and that health authorities are contacting all relevant airlines to determine the situation.
All travellers who are tested on site are then sent to a hotel for an incubation period, in order to prevent a spread.
It is not clear where the recent Delta variant originated from and health authorities are investigating if the case was imported or not.
Taking questions from this newsroom, Gauci said that although six people can meet outside as of the 7th of June, meeting indoors at one’s residence will be limited to four households.
Following Belgium’s halting of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine for those under 41 years of age following the death of a person who received the shot, Gauci said that Maltese health authorities are closely monitoring the Malta Medicines Authority (MMA) and the European Medicines Agency (EMA), both of which have not halted the single-dose vaccine.
Asked what the controlled and limited events are which Deputy Prime Minister and Heath Minister Chris Fearne hinted at last Monday, Gauci said that these events are not referring to mass events.
The only events which will be allowed in June, she confirmed, are weddings and religious activities such as mass.
Discussions are currently on-going with stakeholders to see how these small events will be controlled.
Asked if the vaccine can affect fertility, Gauci said there is no evidence that the vaccine affects fertility, and she has advise the public, especially the youths, to be aware of posts on social media.
She implored the public to pay attention to what the health authorities and the EMA have issued on the vaccine, rather than focus on posts from Facebook.
Follow Charmaine Gauci's briefing below: