UPDATED 10.03pm
Non-essential travel between Malta and Gozo should be avoided and all passengers will be screened at the Mgarr and Cirkewwa terminals, Gozo Minister Clint Camilleri said on Friday.
UPDATED 1.44pm
Prime Minister Robert Abela announced that Government was extending the 14-day mandatory quarantine to all persons arriving in Malta from any destination. Abela insisted that Government will be strictly enforcing this decision. Foreigners working in Malta found guilty of not observing this requirement will have their work permit revoked besides being liable to the fines established in the past days.
UPDATED 10.53am
COVID19 – Three more positive cases take up tally to 12
Three persons, a Maltese man and woman, as well as an Italian have tested positive to COVID19 following the swabbing carried out yesterday. This was announced moments ago by Health Superintendent Prof Charmaine Gauci.
The Maltese man returned from Munich and is in very good condition. The man works as a self-employed and had no major contact with other persons. His family of three are in quarantine.
The Italian man, a 40 year old who works in Malta largely carries out his work via electronic means and therefore had minimum personal contact. He returned from Paris on the 6th of March. Casual contact with two persons was confirmed and these are currently quarantined.
The third case concerns a 30-year old female healthcare worker who returned from Brussels last Monday. She briefly reported to work in hospital and all persons with whom she came in contact were placed in quarantine – but none have so far shown any symptoms of the virus.
Prof Gauci insisted that all 12 cases so far have been imported and no local transmission took place. She also confirmed that one woman was close to complete a full recovery after testing negative twice, 24 hours apart. However, she will remain in quarantine for a few more days.
Malta wakes up this morning to a new reality, one in which schools, childcare centres and University are closed, visits to old people’s homes and prisons are prohibited and employers being actively encouraged to let their employees work from home. A reality that will have to become the new normal at least for the next few days as the country seeks to collectively fight back the coronavirus pandemic.
Following the confirmation of the eight and ninth cases, two young people in their twenties, Prime Minister Robert Abela has yesterday announced new measures intended to contain the virus from spreading further. These measures have led to the cancellation of a number of sporting and cultural events, including Church activities. All football matches have been postponed – although Government had seemingly granted an exception so that Premier League matches could have been played behind closed doors, the Malta Football Association later confirmed the postponement of these fixtures, particularly after a number of clubs reported that some of their players were in self-quarantine.
At the same time, the Authorities are also battling the continued spreading of fake news, with Government debunking an online claim which made the rounds on Thursday which had claimed that 35 new cases of the virus had been identified but concealed from the public.
As businesses begin to feel the pinch of scaled down economic activity, the Chamber of Commerce called on Government to immediately and without any further delay launch a set of measures to assist companies in Malta weather the initial storm which the pandemic is bringing onto the Maltese Economy.
According to a tally Government announcements compiled by Reuters, more than 127,000 people have been infected globally and over 4,700 have died.
