Malta did not end 2021 on an epidemiologically positive note as it was deemed among the most worrying in Europe due to the rise in COVID cases.
Classified as being ‘very high concern’, Malta ended the year with a score of nine out of 10 according to a weekly review done by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) as it assessed 2021’s last week.
Only France and Estonia scored higher than Malta, landing a 9.3 out of 10 score. The EU average by 2021’s end stood at 8.8, especially following the spike due to the Omicron variant.
The score is worked out on five different indicators which are case notification rates, testing rates and test positivity, rates of hospitalisation and intensive care admission, occupancy and mortality.
During this same week, Malta’s health authorities landed on an average of about 1,000 new cases daily as they reviewed the 7 days. This meant many had to quarantine, up to tens of thousands, and spend new year locked in.
With Omicron being considered the main culprit of this increase, almost 70% of all new cases are now attributed to this South Africa discovered variant. Despite Malta’s infection rate spiking to a record 2,443 cases per 100,000, the death rate remained among the lowest at just over 15 deaths per 100,000.
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Photo Source: Chris Fearne FB