The Maltese Prime Minister Robert Abela appealed to the Maltese population to follow the directives issued by the public health authorities so that by summer, the situation could return to normal. Answering questions during a radio interview, Abela declared that the coming three weeks were crucial and appealed the general public for cooperation.

So far, 151 cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in Malta, roughly half of the cases were travel related and the other half were cases of local transmission. Various measures have been implemented to curb the spread including the closure of all educational institutions until June, the closure of establishments providing non-essential services among others.

The two new casesregistered in the last 24 hours,are a 53-year-old Maltese woman who developed symptoms associated with coronavirus. The woman who had no travel history, however, a relative had returned to Malta from the United Kingdom. The family was in quarantine.

The second case concerns a 39 years old Maltese man. The man did not travel however a colleague was abroad and had developed some symptoms. The authorities are currently doing contact tracing.

The Supretendent of Public Health, Prof. Charmain Gauci said, “it is true that only two tested positive for coronavirus after carrying a record number of 585 swab tests. But this is not an indication that we will not have more cases. We need the public cooperation to keep the numbers low.”

Meanwhile, four patients who contracted coronavirus are currently receiving treatment at the Intensive Therapy Unit at Mater Dei Hospital. One of the patients, a 72 year old man remains breathing with the help of a ventilator and he is in a critical condition.

(ITALPRESS/MNA)

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The World Health Organisation has chosen Malta as a model for other countries on how to combat coronavirus. This was declared by the Maltese Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Health Chris Fearne in a press conference this morning, as he announced ten more positive cases for coronavirus. So far, Malta registered a total of 149 cases.
Out of all the COVID-19 cases, 3 patients have been admitted to the Intensive Therapy Unit. One of the new coronavirus cases is a 72-year old Maltese man who is in critical condition. He was in contact with a relative who tested positive to the virus. 3 people from the Philippines were tested positive; linked to a person who returned to Malta from the Philippines who had also been tested positive. A Maltese man who lives abroad and has recently returned to Malta through a flight from France, is positive to coronavirus. A British man who lives in Malta was also tested positive. A Maltese healthcare worker, a maltese man and two Indians residing in Malta were all tested positive after they were infected locally. Meanwhile, the Minister of Education Owen Bonnici announced that all schools and educational institutions will be closed until the end of June, therefore, a new scholastic year might open in September. Earlier this month, the government had announced that schools were to remain closed until the 17th April 2020 and now has been extended. All school examinations have been cancelled. Minister Owen Bonnici appealed to all students and parents to continue their studies even though they are not physically attending schools. He also said that such measures will also help alleviate some of the pressure experienced by students during the exam period.

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On 7 April, on the occasion of World Health Day, “Start the Future” will be held a free international online event of its kind. It is promoted by the Web Marketing Festival, with the partnership of the Maltese Italian Chamber of Commerce and other international partners and will see the participation of startups, speakers, investors and people from all over the world. An invitation has been launched to present innovative projects, testimonials, products and services to address current emergencies and 4 global challenges: education, health, climate change and digital transformation. “The Italian Chamber of Commerce of Malta has decided to join and support Start the Future, the global event that will be held online on April 7 and organized by the Web Marketing Festival – said President Victor Camilleri -. It’s time for ideas to help support the entire community. In Malta there are many startups, innovative and consulting companies that can make a significant contribution to the company to overcome this global emergency”. The Covid-19 emergency is seriously affecting the balance of many countries in Europe and around the world and their respective economic, health and education systems.

“For this reason, during the event, which is free of charge and entirely online – said Camilleri – innovative projects, testimonials, products and services that can be used to deal with the great global changes of our time and to deal with the difficulties caused by Covid-19 will be presented. This event is a great opportunity for innovative Maltese and Italian startups to emerge in the international framework and support the new global challenges that many industries are facing.” The Start the Future call, which runs on the Web Marketing Festival’s website until 2 April, allows start-ups, scale ups, ONPs, research centres, companies and agencies, as well as individuals, investors, journalists, policy makers, researchers and innovators, to send and propose projects, ideas and testimonials that can then be presented during the online event.

(ITALPRESS/MNA).

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Maltese Deputy Prime Minister and Health Minister Chris Fearne has announced two new measures to avoid and limit the risk of coronavirus transmission.

One of the new measures is that social gatherings of over five people will not be allowed.

The other measure is aimed at the most vulnerable people. People over the age of 65 and people with existing medical conditions will not be able to leave at any time.

These two new measures will enter into force on Saturday.

Minister Fearne said that the virus pattern is changing from those imported from abroad to the local transmission phase. He also said that Malta is still in the very early stages of the epidemic and that situations will continue to change.

He also said that the Maltese health authorities are following the measures taken in hospitals in other countries.

(ITALPRESS/MNA)

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Malta, health authorities confirm spread of coronavirus

The coronavirus continued to spread in Malta. The Public Health Authorities today announced 19 new cases of COVID 19, reaching a total of 129. This is the highest number of cases registered since the start of the outbreak on March, 7.

While addressing a press conference, the Supretendent for Public Health Prof. Charmaine Gauci confirmed that eight of the new reported cases were imported from the United Kingdom, Spain, Austria and Poland. Another four new cases are related to other patients who were already confirmed positive and the seven other, five Maltese, an Italian and a Chinese were local transmissions.

All 129 patients are in good health, although an elderly man, 61, is still receiving treatment in the Intensive Care Unit at Mater Dei Hospital.

The local health authorities are making daily appeals to the public to remain indoors as much as possible to avoid any contact with other people as more new cases are expected to be recorded.

(ITALPRESS/MNA)

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The Maltese government has announced an overall package of €70 million per month for the next three months and will be reviewed as needed to address the economic crisis caused by COVID 19. Maltese Prime Minister Roberto Abela said the purpose of the financial aid package is that various industries will be in a position to operate in order to start over quickly.

Malta, plans to build a pre-fabricated hospital for coronavirus patients
The Maltese government has issued a public call for the set up of a fully-equipped pre-fabricated hospital with a capacity for over 90 patients and medical staff. According to the Health Ministry the hospital must be up and running within eight weeks. The Supretendent of Public Health Prof. Chairmaine Gauci declared that the Maltese government is preparing for every eventuality and possibility, including having enough resources and beds to cater for future patients found positive for COVID 19.
Wuhan in China, which was the epicentre of the deadly coronavirus outbreak, built a similar prefabricated hospital with capacity for 1,000 patients in just nine days.
Meanwhile, the Health authorities hava announced three more positive cases of coronavirus. All were imported from abroad.
A 20 year old woman who arrived from the United Kingdom. She stayed in quarantine immediately after experiencing the first symptoms. Only family members were exposed to her.
Another 20 year old woman was found positive for coronavirus on her return from London. She attended a lecture at the University of Malta, and the health authorities are tracing her friends for further medical tests.
An American, 49, who arrived from Austria was found positive but followed the instructions issued by the health authorities to self-quarantine. Only one person who share the same residence was in contact with the patient.
The Supretendent of Public Health confirmed that the elderly man, 61, who is treated at the Intensive Care Unit is responding well to the medical treatment, and he might be also included in international medical trials.
Prof. Chairmaine Gauci said that altough in the last 24 hours, Malta has registered less positive cases than in recent days, there is still an increase. Up to now, 110 cases have been confirmed. “The increase in positive cases for coronavirus depends on how the community follow the recommendations being issued from the health authorities,” added Prof. Gauci.
Meanwhile, the Maltese government announced that people infected with COVID 19, and are ordered to self-isolate will be fined €10,000 every time they will be find not in quarantine during police checks.
(ITALPRESS/MNA)

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Malta recorded a total of 107 coronavirus cases after the latest medical tests which confirmed 17 new cases. From these cases, 10 are of people who have returned to Malta from abroad. In all cases, patients are in stable condition, including the elderly man admitted to ICU at Mater Dei hospital.
The Supretendent of public health Prof. Chairmaine Gauci said that this is the number of positive cases that the authorities were expecting and at the moment the main objective is to control the virus as much as possible.
From the new cases there are patients who entered Malta from northern Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom and Ireland. Other cases are of people who were infected locally.
Prof. Charmaine Gauci declared that notwithstanding the increase in the number of positive cases, Malta is still far away from reaching the peak of the coronavirus when compared to other countries.
(ITALPRESS/MNA)

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The Archbishop’s Curia of Malta has announced that Pope Francis’ apostolic visit to Malta at the end of May has been postponed.

In a short statement, the Curia said that “considering the current situation in the world, and in agreement with the authorities and the Catholic Church in Malta, the pastoral visit of Pope Francis to Malta and Gozo has been postponed. A new date will be determined later. The bishops of Malta and Gozo would like to take this opportunity to invite Catholics to keep Pope Francis in prayer. ”

Pope Francis was due to visit Malta on May 31, 2020 and preparations were well underway.

(ITALPRESS/MNA).

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In the last 24 hours Malta has registered 17 new cases of coronavirus for a total of 90. This was confirmed by Dr Chris Fearne, the Health Minister who announced further restriction measures as from Monday morning. He confirmed an increase of local transmitted cases of COVID 19.

The new measures taken by the Maltese governing are the closing of all shops that are not essential, shut down of all non-essential services and the banning of all public activities and meetings. Those found breaching the new decree will be fined €3,000. Post, medical, banking and transport services will remain operating normally.

According to the Supretendent of Public Health Prof. Chairmaine Gauci 10 of the 17 new cases are related to individuals who recently arrived in Malta from abroad. Last Friday night, the Maltese government stopped all incoming flights. The other seven patients have contracted the virus locally as they did not have any recent history of travelling abroad. She added that the health authorities are expecting more positive cases of coronavirus as contact tracing is leading to more new cases.

Meanwhile, Maltese Prime Minister Robert Abela declared on Sunday that his government is following closely and in detail the developments in order to announce more measures that would help various industries being effected negatively due to the coronavirus. During a televised interview he added that the aim of his government is to keep businesses alive. “At this stage, if the economy need to shift from a surplus to a deficit to save businesses and jobs, then so be it.”

Employers’ associations and trade unions are facing pressures, and declared that the €1.81 billion aid package is a non-starter.

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Source: medNews