Record-breaking spikes, worrying increases in infections and a gradual rise of recoveries aside, October has not been kind on Malta’s most vulnerable COVID-19 patients.

With three days to go, October has seen 22 virus-related victims in the last 28 days.

And while September saw 23 COVID-19 patients dying in total by the end, last month had 20 deaths by this point, falling two short of the worrying couple of weeks October has been so far.

In the last seven days alone, there have been 12 deaths, with more than one victim per day being announced on three separate occasions.

On Thursday 22nd October, two COVID-19 patients died in Mater Dei Hospital over 24 hours.

On Sunday 25th October, another two patients – both male – passed away.

Then, just yesterday, three more victims were announced in the span of 24 hours.

Earlier today, the island’s 57th virus-related death – a 91-year-old man – was announced.

The average age of Malta’s COVID-19-related deaths has remained relatively high… but has decreased by a substantial margin since last month.

September’s victims ranged from 71 to 98-year-olda, with the average age being 85.

This month, on the other hand, has seen deaths of people aged everything from 96 to 59, with October’s current average age of virus-related victims being nearly a decade younger than September’s, at 77.

Meanwhile, the island’s active cases have seen the biggest and longest spike yet this month.

In September, Malta’s active cases went from 444, up to 680, then down again to 462.

In October so far, that number has quadrupled, and is now standing at 1,915.

As more and more days since the island’s spike of triple-digit days pass, however, it should be expected that recoveries will soon start being registered in droves.

And while Malta’s death rate has actually gone down when compared to its active cases (mainly due to the meteoric rise in infections) and our elderly homes seem to finally be protected from the worrying spread seen weeks ago, here’s hoping the islands won’t lose more of their most vulnerable citizens by the time numbers go down again.

What do you make of these numbers?