It’s been two years and three months since Malta registered its first Covid-19 case.

We have since learnt to understand that the virus comes in waves. In the first few months of the pandemic, we were told that waves are only in the sea, but people who follow the numbers as issued by the health authorities each day have realised that there are weeks when new cases shoot up, and there are others when they go down.

Naturally, the number of active cases yo-yos too, depending on how many new cases there are and how many patients recover. We are now passing through yet another phase when the number of new cases is going up, and with it the number of active cases.

We had weeks when the number of new daily cases was below 100, now we have once again reached beyond 200, with the result that the number of active cases has again surpassed 2,000.

Most of the restrictions imposed at the height of the pandemic have been lifted. We are no longer required to wear masks, for example. The vaccination campaign in Malta has been among the most successful in the world as more than 90 per cent of those eligible took the jab, as well as the boosters.

Life, we must admit, has returned to normal.

But the virus has not gone away. People are still getting infected, and the most vulnerable are still dying. We hear little from the government and health authorities these days. They no longer give details as to how many people are in hospital; neither are they giving the ages of the people who pass away with the virus. They seem to want to give the impression that the pandemic is over.

But when numbers go up it is inevitable that people start to worry more. This is because the likelihood that one comes across people who are carrying the virus and, as such, transmitting it too, grows. With social activities on the rise, no restrictions on travelling and dining out now back to what it used to be, the chances are that the virus will spread further.

The general feeling out there, unfortunately, is that we no longer need to pay so much attention. This is the indirect message that was sent to the public by the health authorities when measures to contain the spread of the virus were removed. But we still need to be careful, and it is always better to take precautions.

Health chief Charmaine Gauci no longer tells us to “stay safe”, but we all need to be cautious, as we are running the risk of going back to even higher numbers.

As to the vaccination campaign, the government has offered the fourth dose to people over 65. That was the last time we heard anything about it. Are the any plans for people in younger age brackets?