At least 70 elderly people have been quarantined after COVID-19 spread at a tombola luncheon.

At least eight people have tested positive for the virus, Superintendent of Public Health Charmaine Gauci confirmed today.

The virus spread as elderly people were socialising ahead of the new year. Maltese citizens – especially vulnerable groups like the elderly – are being asked to not gather in crowds

However, it seems this group didn’t get the memo, organising a tombola event attended by a large amount of elderly people; it is not known which locality this event took place in.

The news came after a new, more transmissible variant of the coronavirus was found for the first time on Maltese shores. Three people – a 37-year-old foreigner, a 47-year-old foreigner, and a 75-year-old Maltese man, have been infected with the variant.

They are currently under quarantine and contact tracing has been affected