Five new cases of Coronavirus have been reported overnight, for a total of 18. All cases are imported, health chief Charmaine Gauci said today, and so far there have been no cases in which the disease was transmitted locally.
Addressing the media this morning, Gauci gave details of six persons who tested positive. This includes the 19-year-old Maltese girl who was reported to have contracted the disease last night. She was the 13th case to be reported in Malta.
Gauci said that the girl, a University student, and her family – parents and sister – are now in quarantine. None of them are experiencing symptoms.
The woman travelled to Brussels on 4 March and returned on 8 March. Symptoms developed on 11 March.
On her return, she attended one lecture and the health authorities are tracing the other students who were with her in class. A risk assessment exercise took place and where necessary quarantine is being imposed.
The 14th case is that of a Russian man, who is employed here. He returned from Russia on 4 March and developed symptoms on 11 March. A person who lives in the same residence has been placed in quarantine although no symptoms were reported. He works with a private company and the health authorities are tracing whoever could have come in contact with him.
The 15th case is a Maltese 33-year-old who returned from Dublin, where he was between 7 and 10 March. He started feeling symptoms on 9 March, which meant that his travelling on a plane to return to Malta triggered the authorities to contact the passengers who were closest to him on the aircraft. None of them reported any symptoms.
Another Maltese man is the 16th case. He was in Barcelona between 6 and 9 March and, upon his return, obeyed instructions to self-quarantine and did not go to work. He developed symptoms on 13 March, but his self-quarantine avoided any exposure.
Gauci then spoke of a couple, the 17th and 18th case who went to Madrid between 7 and 10 March. They are from Hong Kong and Italy, and travelled together, both reporting symptoms on 11 March. They work with a private company and the health authorities are seeing who could have come in contact with them.
Gauci added that with regards to the 13th case, the authorities “immediately noticed that the 19-year-old Maltese girl was on the same flight with the man who was reported as the 9th case.” Since the health authorities started with the procedure of contact tracing with the 9th case, they had already discovered people who had a number of symptoms and were on the same flight. “Three passengers who were on the flight were tested negative”, Gauci said.
The health authorities also looked into where both the 9th and 13th case were sitting on the plane. Gauci said that “they were sitting far away from one another. Thus, this indicates that the transmission did not occur on the plane but the transmission occurred in Brussels.”
Gauci said that “641 tests were carried out on people who were abroad and had symptoms. Malta has one of the highest percentages when it comes to swabbing tests in comparison to other European countries.”
“It is very important that we identify all the positive cases as soon as possible, isolate them, carry out contact tracing, and follow the state they are in,” Gauci said.
“591 swab tests were also carried out on people who are going to Mater Dei Hospital with respiratory symptoms. All swabs tested negative”, Gauci said.
Until now there have been no cases of local transmission of the disease, and so an immediate lockdown is not necessary. “However, we are thoroughly analysing the situation in order to identify which are the best measures we need to take to control the virus as much as possible,” Gauci said.
The Malta Independent asked Gauci if patients who recover from Coronavirus could be infected again. She said that “the virus is still very much new and so we are constantly learning new things about it. Several indications show that a person is considered to have recovered after two negative tests which are carried out 24 hours apart.”
Yesterday one of the cases in Malta was reported as recovered as the patient tested negative for both tests which were carried out 24 hours apart. “Despite this, the patient is still being kept in quarantine in order to avoid transmission of the virus,” Gauci said.
Gauci added that the clinical condition of the infected patient is thoroughly evaluated. Currently the IDU is treating patients who have a mild case of COVID-19, however it will then give priority to infected patients who have underlying conditions such as asthma.