Every 12 Minutes For A Whole Month, Someone In Malta Has Gotten Infected With COVID-19
Crashing waves and conspiracy theories aside, Malta has definitely seen better months than November 2020… at least as far as COVID-19 is concerned. But with so many numbers coming at us all the time, what does it all mean?
Every single day, we’re inundated with statistics that usually boil down to a couple of numbers – new infections, where some of these infections come from, and how many people have recovered. Looking at a bigger picture, however, some more worrying statistics emerge.
In the last 30 days, a total of 3,720 people have been infected with COVID-19. That’s just over 40% of every single case Malta has had in the last eight months.
And sure, boiling down numbers like this to averages creates perspectives that many people would either dismiss as inaccurate or deride as fearmongering, but if there’s one thing that numbers don’t have, it’s an agenda.
So, with that in mind, let’s at least try to further break that number down.
On average, 124 people have gotten infected per day in the last month. That’s a number many can instantly recognise and understand… but things get a bit weirder if you break it down even further.
These current figures translate to five people getting infected with COVID-19 every hour. Or one person getting infected every 12 minutes. For a whole month.
And while real life obviously pans out a little differently – there are specific times of the day when more people get infected and early-morning ones when no one does, for starters – it’s quite humbling to see the figures laid out like this.
Of course, these aren’t the only figures racking up… and others are much more positive. Others, not so much.
For starters, 3,450 people have also recovered in the last 30 days. This is to be expected, since with more people being infected, there is the eventuality that most will eventually recover within two weeks. But when everything is said and done, it’s still a reassuring figure.
There’s also the fact that even though the country has been seeing over 100 new cases per day, the fact that this number has remained stable and hasn’t significantly increased is actually a good sign. While initially a bit tough to accept, this speaks to the nature and objective of a virus like COVID-19 – multiply and increase the rate of infection. So while an average of 124 new cases definitely sounds worrying (and is nothing to scoff at), its stability is somewhat positive.
Meanwhile, however, there have been 69 deaths in the last 30 days.
That translates to two COVID-19 patients dying every day for the last month.
With the end of 2020 just over a month away and a vaccine hopefully coming not long after, Health Minister Chris Fearne has confirmed that Malta’s bars will remain closed until New Year’s Day as a “last-ditch effort”.
And whether or not you agree with Fearne’s decision, the numbers above won’t change.
What do you make of these statistics? Do you think Malta should open its bars anyway despite these numbers?