Malta has finally been struck off the EU diseases agency's travel red list, where it had been for weeks, as the number of new COVID-19 infections plateaus. 

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) had first put Malta on its red list in mid-July, as the number of new infections spiked soon after the island opened up to tourists and as some restrictions continued to be eased. 

Week after week for four weeks, the ECDC continued to place Malta on its red list before moving it to the orange list on Thursday. 

A country is classified as orange

• if the 14-day notification rate of new cases is less than 50 and the test positivity rate is 4% or more;
• if the 14-day notification rate is 50 or more and less than 75 and the test positivity rate is 1% or more; or
• if the 14-day notification rate is between 75 and 200 and the test positivity rate is less than 4%. 

Malta's rate of new cases is currently 182.87 per 100,000 people while the death rate is 15.55 per 100,000 people. 

While the case rate is lower than in the majority of EU countries, Malta's death rate is now the sixth-highest in Europe. 

The weekly classifications and rates are given up to the previous Sunday, meaning the data published on Thursday is for the period up to August 15.

This suggests that Malta's rates will likely remain the same in the coming weeks since the numbers seem to have plateaued in recent days.

On Thursday, the health authorities detected 86 new COVID-19 cases as two patients died while infected with the virus. 

Public health chief Charmaine Gauci told Times of Malta on Wednesday the health teams were prepared for a possible "post-holidays" spike in cases in the coming weeks.