Live Update: Covid-19 Bulletin Malta – Monday 4th May 2020
5422 Mins Read
Updated 1239
During today’s daily briefing Prof Charmaine Gauci said that three new cases were identified yesterday, taking the total to 480 positive cases. 399 persons have now recovered, which tallied to the four who passed away, means that less than 80 persons are now infected.
Two of the new cases concern a 33-year old man and a 50-year old woman, both Maltese, who had previous contact with a person previously identified as positive. The third person is a 26-year old health care worker employed at Mater Dei. He had reported to work the day before showing the first symptoms.
Prof Gauci re-iterated that the wearing of masks was mandatory on public transport and in retail outlets, which was punishable by fines. Children under the age of 3 were exempted.
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Is today the start of the long, arduous road to a new normality in Malta? Individuals and businesses alike will most certainly hope so as a number of social restrictions are lifted as from this morning.
While authorities continue to insist that non-essential outings should be avoided, business outlets selling items such as clothes, jewellery, bags, shops, flowers and furniture will be allow to re-open. VRT Testing outlets and lotto booths will also operate again as from this morning. Social distancing requirements will continue to apply, with a two-metre distance between customers being required. Access to changing rooms will not be allowed.
However, people will be expected to wear a face mask or shield to access these outlets. Government has fixed a maximum price of 95 cents fr masks, while face shields can be sold up to 5 euro. Retailers selling these products at a higher price can be fined between 116 and 582 euro.
Restrictions on non-essential travel to Gozo have been lifted, while people may congregate in groups of up to four. Yesterday, on the last where groups of four (and more) were not allowed, a record number of 124 persons were each fined €100.
In almost two months since the first case, Malta has registered a total of 477 cases, 392 of which have recovered. Four persons have lost their lives.
