Health chief says people must be more vigilant as flu season approaches
Health Superintendent Charmaine Gauci warned people should not be complacent as the biggest test in dealing with COVID-19 is still to come as it will soon be accompanied by cases of influenza.
A decrease in the number of COVID-19 cases has been registered in the past week but new cases remain “substantial”.
As we move towards the flu season, we will have to work even harder to tackle both situations, she said in her weekly press conference yesterday.
19 new local cases of COVID-19 where registered on Friday, while 27 migrants residing in closed centres also tested positive in the last 24 hours.
In their daily update, the health authorities also said that there were 37 new recoveries – another day where the number of recoveries has exceeded the number of new cases.
It means that there are now 406 active cases of the virus, a number which does not include the migrants after the government reached an agreement with the European Centre for Disease Control (ECDC) for them not to be added to official figures as they have no bearing on local transmission of the virus.
1,869 tests were carried out, Gauci said, taking the total number of swabs ever closer to the 200,000 mark – it now stands at 198,883.
Malta has had 1,984 cases of COVID-19 since the pandemic first arrived in Malta on 7 March. 1,565 of those have recovered, while 13 have died.
37 patients are in hospital with Coronavirus, with one in critical condition.
Out of those 37, 14 are being held at St Thomas Hospital, eight at Mount Carmel Hospital, six at Boffa Hospital, another six at the Infectious Diseases Unit in Mater Dei, and another two are in other wards at Mater Dei.
Patients at Boffa and St Thomas are there because of situations such as them having vulnerable people at home, meaning that they are moved to hospital in order to reduce the risk of transmitting the virus to their vulnerable relatives, Gauci said.
One person is currently in ITU at Mater Dei, with Gauci saying that the person is in a stable condition. One case in the Infectious Diseases Unit meanwhile is in critical condition, Gauci said.
Gauci said that the number of cases being registered in the past days has fallen when compared to the past weeks.
The seven-day moving average shows a decline, which means that the cases are being brought under control, but Gauci said that it is important that the public continues being vigilant as flu season is approaching.
Clusters
She said that several clusters of family and friends have developed over the past days, appealing to one and all to exercise caution when meeting relatives, such as by keeping social distancing and wearing masks.
The same is happening with clusters at the workplace, with several of them developing in the past days.
The average age of the number of cases in the past week has dropped slightly to 39.5 years old, with Gauci indicating that this may be a reflection of the number of cases being found in the workplace.
Giving details about the situation in Gozo, Gauci said that there are currently 11 active cases of the virus. She noted that averages of 150 or so tests are carried out in Gozo, although there is capacity for more tests to be done.
She emphasised the need to follow guidelines, especially with regard to the wearing of a facemask. “We urge people to continue wearing masks and maintaining good hand hygiene and social distance when we meet friends and family. We appeal to those people who are feeling unwell to stay at home and not meet people,” she said.
On the case of migrants, Gauci said that there were 106 cases in total concerning migrants living in open centres, of which two remain active. She said that all those in closed centres are held in quarantine.
242 swab tests carried out at Malta International Airport
Speaking about the measures at the Malta International Airport, Gauci said that 242 swab tests have been made there since legislation regulating countries by introducing an ‘amber list’, with four cases being found out of those since this legislation was enacted some weeks ago.
Change of recovery test
Gauci stated that Malta has changed its requirement for considering a person to be recovered from COVID-19. Previously, a person had to have two negative tests confirming that a patient is recovered from COVID-19.
Now, Gauci said that Malta is following international guidelines issued by ECDC, and confirmed that one negative test is enough to consider a patient recovered.
Health Inspectors carried out 53,782 inspections
When asked regarding an update on fines given out for individuals and businesses not following measures, Gauci said that so far there have been 53,782 inspections on homes. She said that the environmental health inspectors have issued 167 fines for breaching quarantine, 27 of those being positive cases.
She said that around 36 establishments have been fined for breaking rules, whilst 113 people have been fined for not wearing masks.
“We must continue following the measures and wearing masks properly. Many times we see individuals who are wearing a mask and then removing it to speak. As you can see, it is possible to speak and keep your mask on; this will help reduce the risk of spreading the virus,” explained Gauci.
When asked whether the number of total swab tests which are provided daily include the swab tests on migrants and re-swab tests of positive COVID-19 patients, Gauci explained that the total number of swabs shown daily do include those of migrants and COVID-19 patients. “This number includes those tests on those who have random testing at old people’s homes and Mater Dei, all these tests are included.” She explained that the positivity rate is taken by taking the total number positives, including migrants, divided by total number of swabs, so health Authorities have an indication of the rate of positive cases.
When asked whether there are lobbies against the COVID-19 vaccines, she said that in Malta there are no lobbies against vaccines, but she noted that over the years there have been people who resisted taking the vaccine. “In general we have had good experience with vaccines, particularly when it comes with children, where we see that vaccine uptake is over 95%.”