Government announces lockdown for people aged over 65, chronically ill

The government has announced two new measures to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the country, one of which requires people aged over 65 and all others who have chronic illnesses to stay at home as from Saturday, along with relatives or persons who reside in the same household as them.

The new measures were made public yesterday afternoon by Deputy Prime Minister and Health Minister Chris Fearne.

There are no fines associated with these measures, but Minister Fearne said it is imperative that these instructions are obeyed by all those who fall under the categories listed by the government.

Fearne said that the health authorities were starting to see patterns emerging, where there is a shift from the cases being predominantly imported to cases which are being locally transmitted.

“We expect to go into a new phase where the spread of the epidemic is predominantly local. We are still at the early stages of this epidemic,” he said. Fearne noted that the measures which are being taken gradually are always connected with evidence which they have and with the predictive modelling that they have conducted.

The new measures, which were agreed during a lengthy Cabinet meeting earlier yesterday, are aimed at protecting elderly and vulnerable people from the virus, as it may cause complications of a potentially fatal nature in these people.

Fearne said that while the spread of the disease is still in its

"early stages", given what is being seen in other countries and what statistical models are showing, “it is now the time to implement more measures to reduce the risks of spreading the disease.”

One of the two measures mainly affects the elderly. As from Saturday, people aged 65 and over will be obliged to stay at home. Fearne said that people who have chronic illnesses should also stay inside, including those who are under 63 years of age, and hence still working.

The people with the following medical conditions will be receiving a letter from the government’s Chief Medical Officer telling them of the obligation to stay at home: Insulin dependent diabetics; People taking biological medicines; People who have cancer or had cancer treatment in the past six months; People with immuno-suppression; Those receiving dialysis treatment; All pregnant women; People with respiratory diseases that required hospital treatment over last year; People with heart disease who required surgery within last six months; People undergoing treatment at the heart failure clinic; and People taking oral steroids.

The measures announced will affect 118,000 people.

Exceptions will be made for those people who have medical appointments which have not been postponed, and the Superintendence of Public Health can also give special dispensation to people who fall into these categories or are over 65 years old depending on their profession.

Those who are under 63 and are still working but suffer from the aforementioned health conditions, will be eligible for paid special quarantine leave if they cannot work from home.

The second measure announced yesterday was that, with immediate effect, police will be dispersing groups of more than five people who are seen gathered together in public, even if this is not an organised gathering. The police will request that a two-metre distance be kept between them.

Fearne highlighted that there will not be any fines introduced at this stage for the people obliged to remain indoors should they disobey such a directive. However he urged cooperation from the people who fall under this category, highlighting that it is for their benefit. He said that if breaches occur in the future then the government will consider it. He also stressed that in major cities abroad situations overwhelmed the healthcare systems, such as in Milan, and said that this measure is intended to avoid such situations.

Listing further measures taken by the Ministry in the medical field, Fearne said that he had issued orders for the capacity of Gozo General Hospital to be expanded by Steward Healthcare. He said that he had ordered for the Intensive Therapy Unit in Gozo to be increased from 2 beds to 20 beds, and for beds reserved specifically for COVID-19 to increase from 31 beds to 120 beds.

As for St. Luke’s Hospital, also owned and operated by Steward Healthcare, Fearne said that the hospital is nowhere near in a state to be used for COVID-19 patients.

With regards to the pre-fabricated hospital which is in the works, Fearne said that a site had been identified in one of the Mater Dei Hospital car-parks and that after an MP - Jason Azzopardi - had alleged that a company knew about the process before it was announced, he had temporarily stopped the adjudication process to get to the bottom of these allegations.

Answering questions from journalists, Fearne said that as long as people were still allowed to work, then public transport services should remain going as they are, with the current restrictions already imposed.

Fearne also said that Malta currently has 100 ventilators and anaesthetic machines and a further 20 in Gozo stocked and ready for use. He added that there is a vast amount which are on order, and have entered into a joint procurement initiative with the European Union for an order of another 100 ventilators.