Updated 12.38pm

Malta has registered Europe's lowest COVID-19 death rate and infection rate for the elderly, according to new data.  

Published late on Thursday, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) weekly review revealed that for the week ending November 14, Malta was the only EU country with a death rate of zero. 

Malta had last registered a COVID-19 death on November 2, though that positive streak was broken on Saturday, when authorities announced that a 71-year-old man had died while COVID-19 positive. 

The ECDC report also showed that the island registered the lowest infection rate among those over the age of 65. This rate stood at 40 cases per 100,00 people. 

An analysis carried out by Times of Malta in recent weeks showed that the elderly dodged the steep rise in COVID-19 cases seen in other age groups, after a good portion of them were administered booster shots.

While cases among over 65s have increased, in line with the overall rise in community virus cases, they have done so at a slower rate than among other age groups. 

The updated review also confirmed Malta's overall case rate as the third-lowest in Europe, at 113.5 cases per 100,000 people.

Despite registering one of the best rates, the EU agency moved Malta's risk to a higher category and is now deemed 'moderate', the same as in Finland, France, Portugal and Sweden. 

In the previous week, the island was one of just two countries whose COVID-19 risk was considered 'low'. 

Malta's positivity rate was the sixth-lowest, at 1.9 per cent, slightly higher than that of Austria, where a full lockdown was ordered on Friday after a spike in infections. 

Cases among the different age groups

Further analysis of the data for the different age groups for the week under review indicated that all age groups saw a rise in infections, though the increase was much more contained among the elderly.

The case rate among those aged over 80 more than doubled in a week, from nine to 23 cases per 100,000 people, though it remained the lowest overall.  

Those aged between 65 and 79 also saw their rate jump to 45 from 29 while the middle-aged, those between 50 and 64, saw their rate spike to 115.2 from 73.

Similar trends were also registered for the younger cohorts. For children under 15, the rate shot up from 52.1 to 91.1 while among youths, the figure went up to 105.6 from 60. 

Those aged between 25 and 49 saw their rate spike from 99.9 to 105.6.