The Covid-19 r-factor has gone down again, as Malta has, for another week, seen more recoveries than new cases, statistician Vincent Marmara told The Malta Independent on Sunday in his weekly video blog.

The reproduction number of the virus is one of the key figures which countries across the world have been trying to reduce ever since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The aim for countries has been to reduce the ratio to a level of 1 – which would mean that one person would transmit the virus to one other person.

When comparing the data from the past seven days to that of previous weeks, the number of new cases has decreased again. When looking at positive cases as a percentage of tests performed, the percentage went down to 2.7%.

Deaths remained on the same level as the last weeks, with 20 registered over the past seven days.  The number of recoveries was on similar levels, slightly lower than last week.

“Once again, we have seen more recoveries than new cases, with recoveries amounting to 141% of new cases. When considering this information, the r-factor is now 0.54.”

Marmara said it is important to keep following instructions issued by the health authorities to keep bringing the rate down.

Taking a look at other European countries, Marmara noted that cases in the UK have increased after a new strain of the Coronavirus was found. Cases in France and Spain were up slightly, and Italy and Germany remained on similar levels to previous weeks.

“This was a particular year where we saw how much this pandemic has affected the world. Over 87 million cases of Covid-19 have been reported worldwide and more than 1.7 million people died. But more than 56 people have recovered. “We have something to look forward too now that the vaccine is here.”

Marmara said the arrival of the vaccine fills us with courage and hope that we will start getting better. He urged people to take the vaccine, adding that this is the hope we have of returning to normal activity.

Source: Malta Independent