There are two new cases of COVID-19 in Malta, Superintendent of Health Charmaine Gauci confirmed today.

The first case was a 40-year-old Maltese man who seems to have caught the virus at work. He reported symptoms on Sunday but had been in quarantine following the diagnosis of a collegue.

The second case was a 68-year-old Maltese man who worked as a volunteer. He reported symptoms on April 25th.

Four patients have recovered since yesterday.

There are 450 total cases of COVID-19 in Malta,  286 of which have recovered, bringing the total amount of active cases down to 160.

700 swab tests were conducted yesterday, bringing the total up to more than 29,000 since testing began last month.

The rate of infection for COVID-19 in Malta which is called the R0 factor, remains below 1, indicating that certain lockdown measures can soon be gradually lifted.

The outbreak of the virus has been contained at the Ħal Far Open Centre, until recently Malta’s hotspot of the pandemic. While 43 residents have tested positive for the virus, no positive cases have been confirmed since 20th April.

Despite the low numbers, Gauci urged people to keep following health authorities’ advice, stay indoors and maintain social distancing to continue to keep the number of cases down.