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Latest COVID-19 victim had recovered from virus and was vaccinated • No new cases on Thursday

Health Minister Chris Fearne says an 82-year-old who was vaccinated and already recovered from COVID-19 has died over the past 24 hours while positive for the virus • Active cases down to 33

17 June 2021, 11:05am
by Laura Calleja

2 min read

An 82-year-old man has died while positive for COVID-19, Chris Fearne announced on Thursday, bringing the total number of deaths since the start of the pandemic to 420.

The Health Minister confirmed that the man had previously recovered from the virus and was vaccinated.

Fearne was speaking at the opening of a primary health clinic in Marsaxlokk.

He said Malta registered no new cases of COVID-19 over the past 24 hours, and active cases had now dropped to 33 after 11 patients recovered.

Fearne also said that for the first time since the start of the pandemic in March last year, there are no persons with COVID-19 at any hospitals across Malta and Gozo.

COVID-19 update for 17 June | 0 new cases • 11 recoveries • 33 active cases • 1,978 Swab tests past 24 hours • Vaccine doses administered until Wednesday 609,867 of which 274,321 are fully vaccinated.

Total recoveries stand at 30,132, while total cases registered stand at 30,585.

The Health Minister said there has only been one case in Malta of the Delta variant that first emerged in India, and there was no cause for panic. He said the health authorities were investigating the case, and more information will be released.

Asked by this paper regarding mass events in light of the strong reaction from the arts lobby, Fearne said the public needed to be patient as Malta had no outcomes to rely on.

“If your doing something for the first time, you have to weigh the risks; the response has to be fair but not rushed,” Fearne said.

Fearne highlighted the situation in the UK, where the vaccination programme was bogged down by the Delta variant. “Despite the countries vaccination programme being on a similar level to our own, due to the Delta variant, they have seen an explosion of cases and a rise in hospital admissions,” Fearne warned.

He said that children will start receiving their vaccination invites at home from Monday.

Laura Calleja is features editor at MaltaToday