Thirty-eight new coronavirus cases were detected between Monday and Tuesday.

The new COVID-19 cases were identified from 2,409 swab tests. 

In their daily update on Facebook, the health ministry said that 34 patients had recovered overnight.

This means that as of 12.30pm on Tuesday, Malta had 678 active cases, not including migrants, out of a total of 2,814 detected since the start of the pandemic outbreak in March.

A total of 235,640 swabs have been taken so far.

The past few days have been Malta’s worst since the start of the pandemic. Three deaths were recorded on Saturday, one on Sunday and two on Monday, bringing the number of coronavirus-linked deaths up to 23.

Malta also registered a record number of new coronavirus cases with the highest daily tally of 106 new patients, recorded on Wednesday. 

Malta is currently the seventh-highest country in the EU in terms of cases per 100,000 people and the ninth-highest in terms of deaths per 100,000 over the past 14 days. Spain tops the European Centre for Disease Control tables.

Details about the new cases are still being compiled.

From the 45 cases detected on Monday (excluding the five migrants):

* 15 were from a cluster of cases at the St Joseph Home for the elderly;

* Eight were family members of previously-known cases;

* Three cases were related to the entertainment industry;

* Two were work colleagues of previously-known cases;

* Two were from social gatherings with other positive cases; and

* One was a direct contact of another positive case.

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