19 new cases, highest daily rise so far; total reaches 129
Nineteen new Coronavirus cases were found as of yesterday afternoon, the highest single toll for a day.
Addressing the press yesterday, Health Superintendent Charmaine Gauci said that this brings the total number of cases so far up to 129.
One of the new cases is that of an 81-year-old man, who is now the oldest person to be diagnosed with the virus in Malta.
There are no new recoveries reported, leaving the number of persons who recovered at two. The 61-year-old man who developed pneumonia is still in an unstable condition at the Intensive Therapy Unit, but he is not in critical condition, Gauci said.
Gauci noted that eight of the new cases were of people who had travelled abroad, another four are people who had been in contact with people who had already been diagnosed, and seven cases which were locally transmitted but which the health authorities could not trace back to travelling or other cases already diagnosed.
Addressing the media, Gauci said that four of the cases linked to travelling were of people who had been to England - two Maltese women aged 47 and 23, and an Englishman aged 54 and his 22-year-old son.
The other cases linked with travelling are of a Spanish woman aged 40, who had been to Spain, two men aged 52 and 19 who had been to Austria, and a 56-year-old man who was in Poland.
Four other cases were of people who had come in contact with others who had already contracted the disease. They include a 21-year-old man who now forms part of the cluster of cases linked with Agenzija Sapport. The others are of a Maltese 58-year-old man who is a relative to one of the health
workers already diagnosed, a 36-year-old man who had contact with a person who was diagnosed after going to a gym, and a 52-year-old woman who had contact with a relative who contracted the disease.
The rest of the cases - seven of 19 - cannot be linked to travelling or other cases already registered. They are three Maltese men aged 27, 47 and 81, an Italian man aged 38, two health workers aged 24 and 23 (the latter a Chinese man who works in Malta) and a 60-year-old woman. The Malta Independent asked Gauci how people can be assured that they can use public transport despite the case of a bus driver who tested positive this week. She said that the health authorities have been working closely with Transport
Malta from the beginning and the necessary steps have been taken, such as reducing the amount of people that are allowed on board. She explained that the risk that this bus driver infected passengers is very low as the contact between drivers and passengers is almost nonexistent. The case is being monitored closely and contact tracing has been underway since it was found out.
This newsroom also asked if the health authorities will be considering the offer made by Frank Portelli to make use of St Philip’s hospital instead of building a pre-fabricated hospital, as was announced yesterday. However, Gauci stated she was there to answer questions about Coronavirus patients, not about the strategy concerning beds.
Asked why there were no more recoveries reported apart from the two cases announced last week, Gauci said that two tests are required for people to be declared as having recovered. The first is carried out when the symptoms subside while the other is done 24 hours later; if both are negative it means that the patients have recovered and can no longer transmit the virus. However, testing negative for both tests consecutively can take some time as they depend on the patient’s ability to fight off the virus completely. She explained that young children and elderly take much longer while suggesting that physical activity and healthy eating can increase chances of recovery.
Asked when the peak of this pandemic in Malta will hit, Gauci said that it is difficult to say but the important thing is to manage the amount of people who aren’t sick as this reduces chance of transmission.