Another 182 COVID-19 cases were announced on Sunday, a year to the day when the first case of the virus was registered in Malta.

This is the lowest number recorded since March 1, when 175 new cases were registered.

Five patients died overnight, meaning the virus death toll now stands at 334. The victims are a 63-year-old woman and three men, aged 95, 78 and 50, who died at Mater Dei Hospital and a 51-year-old man who died at home.

The new cases were detected from 3,945 swab tests, resulting in a positivity rate of 4.61 per cent.

Meanwhile, 258 virus patients recovered overnight. As a result, the number of known active virus cases in the country as of 12.30pm on Sunday stood at 3,550.

Vaccination

Healthcare workers have administered 95,899 vaccines in total so far, with 32,420 of those being second doses. 

Should Malta continue vaccinating at this rate, it will be on track to vaccinate 70 per cent of adults by the end of summer, reaching the EU's stipulated target, according to a Times of Malta analysis. 

Times of Malta reported on Sunday that a large number of the younger COVID-19 patients currently in intensive care are obese and often develop more severe complications because of excessive weight.