Malta has recorded 48 new COVID-19 cases, continuing a trend of double-digit infections. No new deaths were recorded.

There are now 549 active cases as 53 patients recovered overnight. 

Friday's new cases were found from 2,036 swab tests taken over the previous 24 hours.

It is the 14th consecutive day that the number of new cases remained in double digits. 

There are now 549 active cases. 

Superintendent of Health Charmaine Gauci is currently giving her weekly update on the most recent cases.

The government announced a lockdown exit plan on Wednesday, with a staggered reopening of schools beginning Monday, with non-essential shops and services to reopen on April 26. 

A total of 232,335 vaccine doses have been administered so far, with 65,205 of those being second doses. 

The European Medicines Agency said on Wednesday that blood clots should be listed as a "very rare" side effect of the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine but that the jab's benefits continue to outweigh the risks.

However, there have been no cases of blood clots linked to the AstraZeneca  vaccine in Malta and the Maltese health authorities are continuing with their plan of administering the AstraZeneca to anyone under 70.

Besides the AstraZeneca vaccine, Malta is also administering jabs produced by Pfizer and Moderna.

More than 99 per cent of those given a dose of the COVID-19 vaccine developed immunity against the virus and did not get infected after receiving the jab.

To report breaches of COVID-19 public health regulations, call 21224001 

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.