Superintendent of Public Health Charmaine Gauci has warned the public against using "dangerous" at-home COVID-19 tests currently on the market.
During her weekly briefing on the coronavirus situation, Gauci said people may not be accurately testing themselves and should have tests carried out by healthcare professionals.
"These tests can be dangerous as people might not be testing themselves properly. We are lucky we have so many testing centres for free," she said, encouraging people to book tests online or through dialling 111.
"We need to remember that to do a test to see if you are positive or not you have to be swabbed. Technically this means someone else has to take this test for you, who knows how to do it properly, because if you do not do this properly you will not take a proper sample."
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She was giving an update on COVID-19 in Malta - a week before the vaccine is due to be delivered.
Malta will join the rest of the EU for the start of its vaccination programme on December 27, with those aged 85 first in line for the jab.
On Friday, 94 new cases of COVID-19 were announced, from 3,558 swabs while 110 people recovered. One new death, a 92-year-old man, who died at St Vincent de Paul was revealed.
Overall there have been 11,569 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Malta and 183 people have died, according to government figures.
How many patients are in intensive care?
While most of the 1,606 patients who have the virus are recovering at home, some 186 people are in hospital including 18 in Mater Dei Hospital's intensive treatment unit, a slight increase on last week.
Just under half of the COVID-19 cases (84) are being cared for at the Good Samaritan facility in St Paul's Bay. Others are being treated at Mater Dei's infectious diseases unit (12), in other wards in the hospital (39), at St Thomas Hospital (9), Boffa (5) and Mount Carmel (1).
There are no longer any COVID-19 patients in either the Karen Grech or Gozo hospitals.
Where is COVID-19 being spread?
Gauci said that while total cases are increasing, the trend of new cases is "slowly decreasing, which is positive news", with the seven-day moving average of new patients at 84.
Cases are also dropping at homes for the elderly, but new patients are still being recorded every day among this vulnerable group.
Households remain the highest 'cluster' group of patients, at 139 cases, followed by workplaces, at 86, other locations at 39 and social gatherings, which account for 18.
Eight people tested positive from 1,318 tests at the airport last week.
The large majority of cases are in Malta, with 1,572 patients while there are 51 cases in Gozo.
Most of the new cases are aged 25-30.
What happens when the vaccine arrives?
Gauci said the vaccine would arrive "slowly, slowly" and reminded the public that it will be delivered first to the top priority groups.
Letters will be sent out to people inviting them to receive the vaccine. Social distancing rules, hand hygeine and mask wearing will continue to be important during the roll out, she said.
And she warned people not to relax as the vaccine date nears.
"As we prepare for Christmas time, try to avoid crowds and meeting outside your household," she said. "We cannot afford to expose other people, especially the vulnerable - let's take care of ourselves, we are soon nearing the vaccination programme."
Asked to provide a timeline for the vaccination programme, Gauci said it was too early to say, because it depends on the speed of manufacturing the vaccines.
Anyone with specific allergy concerns, should consult their doctor before being immunised, she advised.