COVID 19: Malta taken off green list after spike in cases

Malta taken off green list by the ECDC, following a spike in COVID-19 cases and downgraded to orange travel list

Malta has been relegated from the green to the orange travel list by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), following a recent spike in COVID-19 cases.

Active cases have been on the rise in recent days, going up from 250 to over 700 in a span of two weeks. Hospitalisations and deaths have however remained stable and there are currently 15 patients in hospital, with three being treated at the ITU.

Malta’s booster shot programme is doing well with 85,000 shots administered already.

As per the ECDC guidelines, almost all European countries are currently on the orange and red list, following a spike in cases (Photo:ECDC)
As per the ECDC guidelines, almost all European countries are currently on the orange and red list, following a spike in cases (Photo:ECDC)

Europe is currently witnessing a spike in COVID-19 cases, with practically all countries listed on the orange and red list.

Malta's 14-day notification rate increased to 113.5 and the positivity rate to 1.93, in the latest weekly update issued by the ECDC. The orange list includes countries for which the 14-day notification rate is between 75 and 200 and the test positivity rate is less than 4%. 

Back in September, Malta was put back on the ECDC green list after having spent all summer on the orange or red list.

Countries with the best infection and positivity rates are classified as green, followed by those in orange, then red. Those countries that are worst hit are listed in the dark red category.