Two people have confirmed positive for coronavirus after a record 1,392 tests were carried out on Tuesday.

The number of new cases of coronavirus in Malta was announced during a daily update by Superintendent of Public Health, Charmaine Gauci.

"The situation is stable in Malta now," she said.

Some social distancing measures have been lifted this week as the country records fewer numbers of people becoming ill with COVID-19.

Watch the update:

The new patients bring the total number of coronavirus cases in Malta to 482. Of those, only 72 cases are still active, after five people died and the rest recovered.

There are now no longer any cases being treated at the Intensive Care Unit at Mater Dei.

The new cases are a 30-year-old Maltese woman, who had symptoms on May 4. She was not going to work, so contact tracing has been carried out on her family members.

The second case is linked to a person who died from the illness at Karin Grech hospital. A 32-year-old health carer from the Philippines tested positive after the entire ward was tested. 

Browsing on a desktop PC? Check out the full version of this data dashboard.

On the situation in Ħal Far, Gauci said that there were 50 cases in the open centre for migrants and refugees and that there had been a "good number of recoveries" there.

She said that she was "pleased" to see how many people were obeying the instructions from the authorities to wear masks when shopping and on public transport.

Responding to requests from some football clubs to begin training from June 10, Gauci warned of the need to be cautious and ease measures based on evidence.

"We cannot take decisions on what will happen in June now," she said. "We will be able to speak about additional measures after we've seen that the numbers remain stable."

She said that Malta is still looking at how to implement and build a contact-tracing app amid discussion with the EU and with other countries.

She ended with an appeal for the public to avoid gathering on Mother's Day, which is this Sunday. 

"The best gift we can give mothers, if they are vulnerable, is to make sure they are safe," she said. "Let us not put our mothers in danger on Mother's Day."

 

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