Of the 218 positive cases reported on Wednesday, 44 are Maltese citizens, 21 are foreign residents in Malta and 153 are tourists, the health ministry confirmed with The Malta Independent.

“Close to 90% of these are unvaccinated,” a spokesperson said.

Currently, there are 16 Covid-19 patients at Mater Dei Hospital, the majority of whom are unvaccinated. One unvaccinated foreigner is currently in the ITU receiving care, the ministry said.

Malta’s case numbers have spiked in recent days. The last time over 200 cases were registered in a single day was on 21 March, when 224 cases were registered.

The health ministry was responding to questions sent by The Malta Independent.

One question not answered however, was whether there is any plan for Superintendent of Public Health Charmaine Gauci to resume her briefings.

Another question asked to the ministry regards the news that nine passengers who returned to Pescara from Malta on Tuesday tested positive to Covid-19. This was reported by Italian news agency Ansa.

All 70 passengers on board the plane, including those having a green pass, have been placed in quarantine for 14 days because they have been deemed to have been in contact with infected persons.

The ministry was asked how such an incident could happen and whether the nine had a negative PCR test. “The PCR test indicates whether Covid is detected, or not, at the time of the swab,” the ministry said.

Asked about the news on UK media that Malta is now accepting the Indian version of the AstraZeneca vaccine, the ministry confirmed. “We are now accepting all the Astra Zeneca vaccine batches approved by the UK MHRA.”