The Maltese authorities have not reported COVID-19 intensive-care admissions to the EU’s disease prevention agency for months, Times of Malta has learnt.

Member states report COVID-19 hospital admissions to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control on a weekly basis.

But while Malta has been keeping up with the information on the total number of people admitted to hospital, it has failed to supply the EU agency with details of the situation in the ICU.

The last time such data was supplied was in October.  An ECDC spokesperson confirmed the issue and said it was “working with colleagues in Malta to address this”.

Questions to the Health Ministry on the matter remained unanswered.

According to the latest update by the Superintendent of Public Health Charmaine Gauci on Friday, a total of 19 COVID-19 patients were being treated at the ITU, up from around 16 during the previous week.

The figure has prompted doctors to call for action to address the situation, saying the hospital is under too much pressure and may no longer be able to handle the influx of patients there.

There are currently around 130 patients in hospitals all over the island.

On Friday, a new record for daily infections was set when 258 patients tested positive for the virus overnight.

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