Thirteen new coronavirus cases were confirmed overnight, with all but five having been locally transmitted, the superintendent for public health, Charmaine Gauci, said on Tuesday.

That is the highest daily number since 19 cases were detected on Wednesday, March 25. Malta now has 169 confirmed coronavirus cases, with all but two being active cases.

Authorities conducted 563 COVID-19 tests between Monday and Tuesday, bringing the total number of swab tests taken up to 6934.

The medical condition of the new cases is good, Gauci said.

Of the remaining cases, two patients are in the ITU with one, a 72-year-old man, in critical condition on a ventilator. Seven patients are in the Infectious Diseases Unit, 17 are at St Thomas Hospital and the rest are recovering in isolation at home.

Five of the new cases are linked to an earlier confirmed patient who had been going to work while having symptoms. Three of his work colleagues have since tested positive, along with two persons related to them.

Locally-transmitted cases

Newly-identified patients include four women aged 25, 26, 43, and 27 and a man aged 41.

Of the other new cases, two are the elderly parents of a previously confirmed case. Both are over 70 years old.

Another case is that of an eight-year-old girl, who is the daughter of a previously confirmed case.

Foreign transmission cases

Two brothers aged 18 and 21, both Britons with relatives in Malta, have tested positive. Both had gone into quarantine on their return to Malta.

Other cases were two men aged 21 and 24, related to a previously known case. One of the men had light symptoms one day after flying to Malta and contact tracing is underway.

Another case linked to foreign travel is that of a 48-year-old woman who had been on holiday in Morocco. She was there on a tour with a previous known case and contact tracing is underway with the rest of the group. 

Hunting season request 'being considered'

Hunters have urged the government to open a spring hunting season for quail, despite ongoing restrictions on peoples' outdoor movements. Bird protection activists said earlier on Tuesday that the ORNIS committee would be meeting to "rubber stamp" a political decision to open the season.   

Asked whether the hunting season would be allowed given that people were being asked to stay indoors, Gauci said the situation is under consideration.

She reiterated her appeal for people to cooperate with directives in force, that were issued to maintain social distancing.

The government on Monday said no groups of more than three people would be allowed in the streets or the countryside unless they were from the same household.

Asked about the reliability of tests, Gauci said that people who tested negative must still take precautions as it could be that they had the virus at a very early stage.