Malta is the only EU country currently deemed as being of low concern by Europe’s infections agency, after the islands’ COVID-19 infection rates continued to drop. 

In fresh evaluations by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) published this week, Malta received a score of 4.5 out of 10, the lowest figure among all EU member states.

It is the first time in months that the island’s score has dropped to such a low level and means the country is classified as being of 'low concern'.  

The ECDC score is worked out based on values for five different indicators: case notification rates, testing rates and test positivity, rates of hospitalisation and intensive care admission, occupancy, and mortality.

According to the ECDC data, Malta’s case rate for the week ending on February 27 stood at 225.8 cases per 100,000 people. This was the lowest rate in Europe. 

The island’s positivity rate – the number of cases detected from all the tests carried out – stood at 3.8 per cent, the lowest since December. Despite the low number of cases, however, this was only the fourth-lowest rate, with Greece, Cyprus and Austria all registering a lower positivity rate.

Meanwhile, the number of infections detected continued to drop in all age groups. The highest rate was once again registered among those aged over 80 and, as in previous weeks, was notably higher that of younger adults. 

The ECDC classification marks a significant improvement over the situation at the end of 2021, when Malta’s worsening COVID-19 situation was among the most worrying in Europe. At the time, when the Omicron variant was wreaking havoc across Europe, Malta had been classified as being of “very high concern” with a score of nine out of 10. 

As of Friday, there were 800 active virus cases in Malta.