Healthcare workers detected 111 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday – a nine-day high – while the number of virus patients in hospital dropped to 21.

Three of those hospitalised patients require intensive treatment.

On Friday, there were 23 virus patients in hospital, with three at Mater Dei Hospital’s ITU. There were 88 new virus cases reported that day. 

No deaths were reported over the past 24 hours. A total of 470 people have died while COVID-19 positive so far.

Sixy-seven patients recovered overnight, meaning the number of active virus cases in the country currently stands at 1,408.  

New masking rules came into force on Saturday, requiring people to wear a mask while outdoors at all times, even if alone in the open air.

Malta’s vaccination rollout campaign saw healthcare workers administer 3,220 doses on Friday. Just under 3,000 of those were booster doses.

A total of 988,115 vaccine doses have been administered so far in total.