Main points emerging from today’s press conference:
- 17 new coronavirus cases, total now numbers 90
- No Covid-19 deaths to date, contrary to rumours
- 60 patients recovering at home. 2 others have recovered completely and are no longer positive for Covid-19
- All non-essential shops to close by Monday 8am. The same applies to all non-essential services. Supermarkets, grocers, pet shops, banks and post offices are amongst those not affected by the new measures – they will remain operating normally. A full list of which shops and services are impacted by the new rules will be published in tomorrow’s Government Gazette
- All organised public meetings and gatherings are to be stopped as from Monday 8am
- Fines of €3,000 for each breach instance will be imposed for those not abiding by the new measures
The number of new coronavirus cases registered overnight number 17, Deputy Prime Minister Chris Fearne said on Sunday, bringing the total to 90.
Fearne, who was addressing a press conference along with Public Health Superintendent Charmaine Gauci, said that – contrary to some rumours doing the rounds – no deaths due to Covid-19 have been registered to date in Malta.
“We were always committed to transparency and will be communicating to you all developments. There have till now been no Covid-19 death in our country, he said.
He said that, of the 90 cases, 60 patients were recovering at home, and two had fully recovered and were no longer positive for Covid-19.
Fearne said that, from Monday morning, all non-essential retail outlets will be closed and non-essential services will be stopped. All public meetings and gatherings will also be prohibited.
Amongst the retail outlets affected by this ban are clothes shops, toy shops and household good shops.
In terms of the non-essential services which will have to stop, these include hairdressers, beauticians and tattoo studios.
Supermarkets, green grocers, bakeries, confectionaries, fish mongers, and pet shops, amongst others, will not have to close and will continue operating normally.
Services such as post offices, medical services, banks and transport-related services will also be unaffected by the new measures.
A complete list of all those shops and services which will be impacted by the temporary closure will be published in tomorrow’s Government Gazette.
A fine of €3,000 per instance of breach will be issued to those not adhering by the measures.
In terms of public gatherings, organised gatherings will be banned, and the organisers, not the attendees, will be liable to a €3,000 fine.
Fearne confirmed that the construction industry will be continue operating normally. He emphasised that the country must keep functioning.
The new cases
Ten cases are related to travelling
- An 18-year old Maltese woman and a 73-year-old Maltese man who had travelled to the UK
- A 50-year-old Swedish man living in Malta and a 22-year-old Maltese man who had travelled to Italy
- A Hungarian boy living in Malta whose father had visited Hungary. The child likely contracted the virus from his father
- A 24-year-old Finnish man who visited Vienna, Austria
- A 51-year-old Maltese man who visited Morocco
- A woman, aged 26, who had contact with an infected person who had visited Belgium
- A 46-year-old Maltese woman who had contact with a Covid-19-positive person who had visited Germany
- A Maltese woman, aged 55, who did not travel but whose partner had frequent contact with tourists through his job
Seven other cases have no link to foreign travels and are suspected to be instances of local transmission
- A 27-year-old Maltese health care worker employed at Mater Dei Hospital
- A 42-year-old Indian national who works in Malta
- A Maltese woman, aged 33
- A 53-year-old Maltese woman
- Another Maltese woman, aged 60
- A 74-year-old Maltese man
- A 28-year-old man from Somalia who has lived in Malta for over five years. The man has been hospitalised
