A subvariant of Omicron that is more contagious than the original is now the most common COVID-19 strain in Malta, which recorded 717 new virus cases on Wednesday.
Superintendent of Public Health Charmaine Gauci revealed the details in answers to Times of Malta readers during the latest edition of the Ask Charmaine programme.
She said the BA.2 strain now accounts for 86% of cases nationwide.
The variant does not appear to make people any sicker than the original strain, with Gauci pointing out that the increase in new cases has not been paralleled by an increase in hospital admissions.
There are 100 patients in hospital who are positive for the virus but may have been admitted with other ailments, while four people are in intensive care. Three people diagnosed with the virus died in the past 24 hours while 216 patients recovered.
It means the number of active cases is now at 5,783.
Gauci said the number of cases was expected to increase as restrictions were relaxed, there was increased mobility of people, a cold spell and the increased prevalence of the subvariant.
Relaxation of rules, focus on personal responsibility
She said that in the coming days an announcement would be made on the relaxation of more COVID-19 restrictions.
"The vaccines are working and they have been the solution which allows us to relax the measures," she said, adding that a step-by-step approach to removing the restrictions would continue to be followed. But the focus would increasingly be on personal responsibility.
She said that while the infographic on COVID-19 data is not currently being issued, the Health Department was still publishing data on the internet.
Asked about any further jabs, she said the new lineage of the Omicron variant had not shown any severity of cases, although there was more transmissibility. Immune protection, therefore, appeared to be the same.
Some countries had started administering a second booster dose to vulnerable people and the situation remained under review in Malta on the basis of the local situation and any waning of immunity, she said.
Vaccine certificates for minors are now open-ended
Gauci also announced that on the basis of a delegation by the European authorities, it had been decided that the vaccination certificates of those aged under 18 who took two jabs of the vaccine will not be time-limited even when no booster had been taken.
Such people can therefore travel freely, Gauci said and their certificates would not show up as expired.
Gauci faced several questions about rules not being observed during political rallies. She reiterated the importance of personal responsibility and also pointed out that it is not mandatory to wear masks at outside events.
Rather than imposing fines, the authorities wanted to encourage people to take care of their health, she said.