Coronavirus in Malta Health First and Business Continuity
As Malta announces its first cases of Coronavirus, media went rife with debates on priorities. Some dismissed the hysteria, noting the low mortality rates compared to other health risks, others bemoaned revenue loss, whilst others still balanced health precautions with business continuity.
Malta Closes All Non-Essential Retail Stores & Services, Bans All Public Gatherings
22nd March 2020
The Minister for Health, Dr Chris Fearne, together with the Health Superintendent Prof Charmaine Gauci, announced further Coronavirus public health measures, with effect from tomorrow 23rd March at 8am.
- Closure of non-essential Retail
- Closure of non-essential Services
- Ban on Public Gatherings and Events.
- Essential retail stores allowed to open: supermarkets, bakeries, fishmongers, confectioneries, pet shops.
- Essential services allowed to open: medical, post, banking, transport, telecommunications companies and media.
The fine applicable for breaches is €3,000 per breach. The full list of affected outlets will be published in tomorrow's Government Gazette.
Prof Gauci explained that the 17 new cases resulted from 276 swabs taken yesterday, some of which were related to contact tracing.
COVID-19 Statistics: | |
New Positive Cases: | 17 |
Positive Cases Total: | 90 |
Deaths: | 0 |
Deaths to date: | 0 |
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Maltese Airspace Closed, Commercial Flights Stopped
Closure of Maltese Airspace
The Authorities have announced the closure of the Maltese airspace as from the 20th March 2020 23:59.
From Saturday 21st March 2020, Malta International Airport will be operational to facilitate the arrival and departure of cargo, humanitarian, and repatriation flights. The Ministry for Foreign and European Affairs is organising repatriation flights for:
- Maltese Passport holders currently outside Malta.
- Maltese Residence Permit holders currently outside Malta.
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Malta Coronavirus Financial Aid Package 1 Announced
20th March 2020
The Prime Minister of Malta, the Minister of Finance and Financial Services and the Minister of the Economic have tonight unveiled a COVID-19 financial aid package aimed at supporting the business community, totalling around €1.81 billion.
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8th March 2020
So far three known COVID-19 cases have been announced in Malta: a 12-year-old Italian girl and her parents were tested positive last Saturday. They live in Malta but were recently on holiday in Trentino. They returned to Malta from Rome and were in self-quarantine. The child was not symptomatic during the flight.
Malta not stopping flights from Italy’s northern region, currently sealed off over coronavirus fears, until instructed by the World Health Organisation - Health Authorities.
200 tests performed on people who reported symptoms of fever and cough within 14 days of coming from an affected country.
"Additionally, 244 of random swabs from respiratory screens at Mater Dei Hospital have also tested negative. These figures are continuously changing." - Health Authorities.
The Lombardy region of Italy is in lock down, practically putting more than 15 million people, a quarter of the population, include the regions around Venice and financial capital Milan, in quarantine.
People will be barred from entering or leaving vast areas of northern Italy without a serious and urgent reason to do so, according to a decree signed off by the prime minister overnight and published online.