The number of daily COVID-19 cases is dropping and those with the virus are getting younger but there has also been an increase in patients at Mater Dei's intensive care unit.
Superintendent of Public Health Charmaine Gauci gave the details in her weekly update on the pandemic.
It comes as the number of new cases fell to double digits for the second day in a row. However four people also died overnight, raising the overall death toll to 277.
Gauci said the seven day moving average is also dropping, standing at 141 cases a day, compared with 160 last week. Warning people to remain vigilant, she stressed the importance of taking social distancing precautions.
"It's with these, and eventually the impact of vaccines that will keep numbers low," she said. "Let's work together so that what happened over the holidays doesn't happen to us again," she added, referring to record high daily cases after Christmas gatherings.
Watch the update live below
How is the vaccine programme going?
Gauci began her briefing with an update on the vaccination strategy. Some 33,477 vaccines have been administered so far, including 6,457 second doses.
She said the majority of people in the first priority group have been inoculated. They include healthcare workers in public and private hospitals, staff and residents of homes for the elderly and those aged over 85.
Gauci appealed for anyone in this group who has not received an appointment to call the health authorities on the helpline 145.
The process of vaccinating the elderly who are housebound is ongoing, she said.
This week, those aged between 80 and 84 have begun receiving the vaccine across 20 health centres on the island. Non clinical front liners, such as the army, police and the civil protection department have also started to receive the jab.
And from next week, the third group, which comprises more than 20,000 people and includes those with health conditions that leave them vulnerable to the virus, will receive letters offering them the vaccine.
Malta is two weeks ahead of schedule, Gauci said, but progress depends on the arrival of vaccines, with an unspecified amount of AstraZeneca doses due to land on Sunday.
Where are COVID-19 patients being treated?
While most of the 2,464 people with coronavirus are isolating at home, this week has seen an increase in the most seriously-ill patients.
Some 20 people are being treated in Mater Dei's intensive treatment unit - four more than last week. There are also eight cases in the infectious disease unit and 44 across other wards in Mater Dei.
This is the breakdown for patients treated in other hospitals and facilities:
- Eight in Boffa
- Nine in St Thomas
- 14 in Karin Grech
- 41 in the Good Samaritan
- 14 in Mount Carmel
- Eight in Gozo General
While the overall number of cases has dropped, there has been an increase in cases in homes for the elderly with patients in four facilities, Gauci said, giving no number.
She said that while the mortality rate is also decreasing, a proportion in hospital could "take a turn for the worst" and more deaths could occur.
How is the virus being spread?
Households account for the largest cluster of patients, with 377 contracting the virus through those they live with.
The second most common way of the virus spreading is social gatherings, which account for 101 active cases, followed by workplaces, at 92 and sports gyms at 11.
Gauci said some cases involved secondary school children who were in close contact during gym and sports activities.
The age of the average COVID-19 patient is dropping, with most cases aged between 25 and 44.
Only two people tested positive from 820 rapid tests carried out at arrivals at Malta International Airport.
Some 7,788 people have been ordered into mandatory quarantine after coming into contact with positive cases.
What about the UK variant?
After revealing this week that there are 15 cases of the more transmissible variant first detected in the UK last year, Gauci said Malta's testing rate for mutations meets European recommendations.
Laboratories at Mater Dei are currently testing 50 cases a week, a number that is expected to double soon.
"Right now we have the facility to meet the ECDC (European Centre for Disease Control) recommendation, which is five per cent of the positive cases in the community and we are reaching that number," she said. "Right now we’re meeting that demand."
She reiterated that all residents and nationals arriving from the UK are immediately entering quarantine. Non-residents are currently banned from travelling.