The spike in COVID-19 cases has led to the cancellation of an average of 10 non-urgent surgeries a day, with patients being turned away from Mater Dei Hospital after testing positive.

The health ministry confirmed elective surgeries are being postponed as asymptomatic patients are sent back home.

“A number of elective surgeries are being postponed due to patients testing positive for COVID on admission. This is to minimise the risk of infecting staff and other patients and because surgery in COVID patients is riskier,” a spokesperson said.

At the height of the pandemic, all non-urgent surgeries were being cancelled.

Malta yesterday registered 310 new COVID cases, bringing the number of active cases to 6,928.

The latest daily update by the health authorities confirmed that 673 of those infected had recovered while no deaths related to the virus were recorded.

Hospital sources said there were more than 100 patients with COVID at Mater Dei Hospital yesterday.

In recent days, hundreds of new infections were confirmed by the authorities, with just as many other cases believed to have been detected through home kits. These are not obliged to report their results to the authorities.

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