Malta has been put on the EU’s travel red list amid a spike in COVID-19 cases.

A map by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) that is updated weekly has put Malta in the red zone. While the ECDC’s list does not have any immediate effect, it is used as a guide to member states and travellers. 

Previous recommendations have told member states to prevent travel to red-listed countries.

A country falls into the red zone if its notification rate is between 75 and 200 and the positivity rate is higher than four. Malta’s  notification rate is at 122 and the positivity rate stands at 4.08

Malta’s number of active cases now stands at 1,932 after 195 new cases and 5 recoveries were recorded. There are 18 people in hospital with the virus, one of whom is in ITU.