Malta records 45th COVID-19 death, as cases skyrocket

A 59-year-old man is Malta’s 45th victim of coronavirus, the Health Ministry announced on Wednesday afternoon.

The news comes as Malta registered a record of 111 COVID-19 cases in 24 hours.

The man was admitted to Mater Dei Hospital on 1 October, and tested positive the next day. He continued to be treated in the ITU until he passed away.

Health authorities said he had underlying health conditions.

Earlier in the day information released by the Health Ministry on Facebook showed that active cases have risen to 940. There were 52 recoveries.

Today’s cases are still being investigated but from the cases discovered yesterday, 30 were family members of previously known cases, six were contacts of positive work colleagues and one was from the Paceville cluster.

2,761 swabs were conducted in the last 24 hours, with a grand total of 287,113 swabs having been conducted since the start of the pandemic.

Malta has registered 4,048 coronavirus cases since the start of the pandemic in March, including 44 deaths.