Malta has registered its largest-ever single-day rise in COVID-19 cases, with 204 cases found in the last 24 hours.

This was discovered out of 2,885 swab tests carried out yesterday. A total of more than 295,000 tests have been carried out since the outbreak hit the islands in March.

With 42 recoveries, Malta’s total number of active cases increased to 1,257.

Following this week’s spike in coronavirus cases, fresh restrictions have been put in place to curb its spread.

An 11pm curfew on bars and restaurants, effective as of Monday has been announced, while mandatory mask-wearing will also be extended everywhere as of today including at work, with certain exceptions. A week’s grace period will apply before fines are issued.